ending vs last

ending

noun
  • A termination or conclusion. 

  • The last part of something. 

  • The last morpheme of a word, added to some base to make an inflected form (such as -s in "dogs"). 

last

verb
  • To hold out, continue undefeated or entire. 

  • To shape with a last; to fasten or fit to a last; to place smoothly on a last. 

  • To endure, continue over time. 

adv
  • Most recently. 

  • after everything else; finally 

noun
  • A tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes. 

  • A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value. 

adj
  • Being the only one remaining of its class. 

  • Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable. 

  • Supreme; highest in degree; utmost. 

  • Lowest in rank or degree. 

  • Most recent, latest, last so far. 

  • Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. 

det
  • The (one) immediately before the present. 

  • Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago. 

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