rear vs stern

rear

noun
  • The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last in order. 

  • Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest. 

  • The buttocks or bottom. 

adv
  • early; soon 

verb
  • To construct by building; to set up 

  • To rise up on the hind legs 

  • To get angry. 

  • To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally. 

  • To move; stir. 

  • To place in the rear; to secure the rear of. 

  • To sodomize (perform anal sex) 

  • To breed and raise. 

  • To carve. 

  • To rise high above, tower above. 

  • To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate. 

  • To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster. 

adj
  • (of meats) Rare. 

  • (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw. 

  • Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost 

stern

noun
  • The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel. 

  • A bird, the black tern. 

  • The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog. 

  • The hinder part of anything. 

  • The post of management or direction. 

adj
  • Grim and forbidding in appearance. 

  • Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner. 

verb
  • To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water. 

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