flame vs lover

flame

noun
  • A romantic partner or lover in a usually short-lived but passionate affair. 

  • The visible part of fire; a stream of burning vapour or gas, emitting light and heat. 

  • A brilliant reddish orange-gold fiery colour. 

  • flame 

  • The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the curl. 

  • Burning zeal, passion, imagination, excitement, or anger. 

adj
  • Of a brilliant reddish orange-gold colour, like that of a flame. 

verb
  • To produce flames; to burn with a flame or blaze. 

  • To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardour. 

  • To post a destructively critical or abusive message (to somebody). 

lover

noun
  • A sexual partner, especially one with whom someone is having an affair. 

  • A person who loves something. 

  • An informal term of address for any friend. 

  • One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. 

How often have the words flame and lover occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )