in terms of vs with reference to

in terms of

prep
  • [of one variable or unit of measurement x which has a known relationship to another y] Using equivalent expressions in y in place of expressions in x; mapping x to y. 

  • in relation to a particular aspect; with respect to; as regards; concerning; regarding. 

with reference to

How often have the words in terms of and with reference to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )