downgrade vs lower

downgrade

verb
  • To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down. 

  • to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity. 

  • To place lower in position. 

  • To revert software back to an older version. 

  • To disparage. 

noun
  • A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating. 

  • A downhill gradient on a road or railway. 

lower

verb
  • To reduce (something) in value, amount, etc. 

  • To decrease in value, amount, etc. 

  • To reduce operations to single machine instructions, as part of compilation of a program. 

  • To reduce the degree, intensity, strength, etc., of 

  • To bring down; to humble 

  • (lower oneself) To humble oneself; to do something one considers to be beneath one's dignity. 

  • To let descend by its own weight, as something suspended; to let down 

  • To reduce the height of 

  • To depress as to direction 

  • to pull down 

  • To make less elevated 

  • To fall; to sink; to grow less; to diminish; to decrease 

adj
  • bottom; more towards the bottom than the middle of an object 

  • Situated on lower ground, nearer a coast, or more southerly. 

  • older 

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