braid vs sever

braid

noun
  • A weave of three or more strands of fibers, ribbons, cords or hair often for decoration. 

  • A tubular sheath made of braided strands of metal placed around a central cable for shielding against electromagnetic interference. 

  • A stranded wire composed of a number of smaller wires twisted together 

verb
  • To weave together, intertwine (strands of fibers, ribbons, etc.); to arrange (hair) in braids. 

  • To mix, or make uniformly soft, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in preparing food. 

sever

verb
  • To disconnect; to disunite; to terminate. 

  • To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish. 

  • To cut free. 

  • To suffer disjunction; to be parted or separated. 

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