petition vs reply

petition

verb
  • To make a request to, commonly in written form. 

noun
  • A compilation of signatures built in order to exert moral authority in support of a specific cause. 

  • A formal written request for judicial action. 

  • A prayer; a supplication; an entreaty. 

  • A formal, written request made to an official person or organized body, often containing many signatures. 

reply

verb
  • To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer. 

  • To act or gesture in response. 

  • To repeat something back; to echo. 

noun
  • Something given in reply. 

  • A counterattack. 

  • A document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer. 

  • The answer of a figure. 

  • A written or spoken response; part of a conversation. 

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