diverge vs proliferate

diverge

verb
  • Not to converge: to have no limit, or no finite limit. 

  • To separate, to tend into a different direction (from another line or path). 

  • To become different; to run apart; to separate; to tend into different directions. 

  • To run apart; to separate; to tend into different directions. 

  • To become different, to separate (from another line or path). 

  • Both stories start out the same way, but they diverge halfway through. 

proliferate

verb
  • To increase in number or spread rapidly; to multiply. 

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