halcyon vs keel

halcyon

noun
  • The dead body of such a bird, said in Tudor times to act as a weather vane when hung from a beam. 

  • A kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves. 

  • A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia. 

adj
  • Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher. 

  • Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene. 

keel

noun
  • A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern. 

  • A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat. 

  • In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aeroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course. 

  • The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. 

  • A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability. 

  • Red chalk; ruddle. 

  • The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg. 

  • A type of flat-bottomed boat. 

  • The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge. 

verb
  • To turn up the keel; to show the bottom. 

  • to collapse, to fall 

  • To traverse with a keel; to navigate. 

  • To mark with ruddle. 

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