refer vs relate

refer

verb
  • To make reference to; to be about; to relate to; to regard; to allude to. 

  • To point to either a specific location in computer memory or to a specific object. 

  • To mention (something); to direct attention (to something) 

  • To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere. 

  • To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation. 

  • Required to resit an examination. 

  • To be referential to another element in a sentence. 

  • To direct the attention of (someone toward something) 

noun
  • A blurb on the front page of a newspaper issue or section that refers the reader to the full story inside the issue or section by listing its slug or headline and its page number. 

relate

verb
  • To identify with; to understand. 

  • To interact. 

  • To respond through reaction. 

  • To have a connection. 

  • To bring into a relation, association, or connection (between one thing and another). 

  • To tell in a descriptive way. 

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