halo vs nimbus

halo

noun
  • a circular annulus ring, frequently luminous, often golden, floating above the head 

  • The metaphorical aura of glory, veneration or sentiment which surrounds an idealized entity. 

  • A circular brace used to keep the head and neck in position. 

  • nimbus, a luminous disc, often of gold, around or over the heads of saints, etc., in religious paintings. 

  • The bias caused by the halo effect. 

  • A cloud of gas and other matter surrounding and captured by the gravitational field of a large diffuse astronomical object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies. 

  • A rollbar placed in front of the driver, used to protect the cockpit of an open cockpit racecar. 

  • A circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere. 

  • Anything resembling this band, such as an effect caused by imperfect developing of photographs. 

verb
  • To encircle with a halo. 

nimbus

noun
  • A circle of light; a halo. 

  • A gray rain cloud. 

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