divide vs propagate

divide

verb
  • Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing. 

  • To vote, as in the British parliament and other legislatures, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes. 

  • To share (something) by dividing it. 

  • To separate into two or more parts. 

  • To mark divisions on; to graduate. 

  • To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend). 

  • To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations. 

  • To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance. 

  • To be a divisor of. 

  • To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. 

noun
  • An act of dividing. 

  • A distancing between two people or things. 

  • A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land. 

  • The topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest. 

  • A thing that divides. 

propagate

verb
  • To produce young; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants. 

  • To cause to take effect on all relevant devices in a network. 

  • To spread from person to person; to extend the knowledge of; to originate and spread; to carry from place to place; to disseminate. 

  • To cause to spread to extend; to impel or continue forward in space. 

  • To cause to continue or multiply by generation, or successive production. 

  • To generate; to produce. 

  • To take effect on all relevant devices in a network. 

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