imbue vs leaven

imbue

verb
  • In general, to act in a way which results in an object becoming completely permeated or impregnated by some quality. 

  • To wet or stain an object completely with some physical quality. 

leaven

verb
  • To temper an action or decision. 

  • To add a leavening agent. 

  • To cause to rise by fermentation. 

  • To imbue; to infect; to vitiate. 

  • To rise or become larger. 

noun
  • Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change. 

  • Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods. 

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