intent vs the thing

intent

noun
  • Something that is intended. 

  • The state of someone’s mind at the time of committing an offence. 

adj
  • Engrossed. 

  • Firmly fixed or concentrated on something. 

  • Unwavering from a course of action. 

the thing

noun
  • The needful thing: something suitable for the purpose. 

  • The desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored. 

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