propeller vs vane

propeller

noun
  • A mechanical device with evenly-shaped blades that turn on a shaft to push against air or water, especially one used to propel an aircraft or boat. 

  • One who, or that which, propels. 

  • A steamboat thus propelled; a screw steamer. 

  • A spinnerbait. 

vane

noun
  • Any of several usually relatively thin, rigid, flat, or sometimes curved surfaces radially mounted along an axis, as a blade in a turbine or a sail on a windmill, that is turned by or used to turn a fluid. 

  • A sight on a sextant or compass. 

  • One of the metal guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of a bomb or other missile. 

  • The flattened, web-like part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft. 

  • A weather vane. 

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