earnestness vs spirit

earnestness

noun
  • The quality of being earnest; sincerity; seriousness. 

spirit

noun
  • Intent; real meaning; opposed to the letter, or formal statement. 

  • A supernatural being, often but not exclusively without physical form; ghost, fairy, angel. 

  • Energy; ardour. 

  • Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state. 

  • A volatile liquid, such as alcohol. The plural form spirits is a generic term for distilled alcoholic beverages. 

  • The manner or style of something. 

  • Stannic chloride. 

  • One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper. 

  • The soul of a person or other creature. 

  • Enthusiasm. 

verb
  • Sometimes followed by up: to animate with vigour; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit. 

  • To carry off, especially in haste, secrecy, or mystery. 

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