exercise vs recitation

exercise

noun
  • The performance of an office, ceremony, or duty. 

  • Activity intended to improve physical, or sometimes mental, strength and fitness. 

  • Any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability. 

  • A setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use. 

verb
  • To occupy the attention and effort of; to task; to tax, especially in a painful or vexatious manner; harass; to vex; to worry or make anxious. 

  • To use (a right, an option, etc.); to put into practice. 

  • To exert for the sake of training or improvement; to practice in order to develop. 

  • To perform physical activity for health or training. 

recitation

noun
  • The act of publicly reciting something previously memorized. 

  • A part of a song's lyrics that is spoken rather than sung. 

  • The material recited. 

  • A regularly scheduled class, in a school, in which discussion occurs of the material covered in a parallel lecture. 

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