arousal vs stimulation

arousal and stimulation both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
arousal	Yes	No	No	No
stimulation	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, stimulation is a hyponym of arousal; that is, stimulation is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than arousal:

As nouns, arousal and stimulation are synonyms defined as:

arousal and stimulation: mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse

Other synonyms of arousal include foreplay.

arousal (noun)	stimulation (noun)
the act of arousing	the act of arousing an organism to action
mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse	mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse
awakening from sleep	any stimulating information or event; acts to arouse action
a state of heightened physiological activity	(physiology) the effect of a stimulus (on nerves or organs etc.)