mettle vs temper

mettle

noun
  • Good temperament and character. 

  • A quality of endurance and courage. 

adj
  • Spirited, vigorous, stout-hearted. 

temper

noun
  • Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure. 

  • The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities. 

  • The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling. 

  • Middle state or course; mean; medium. 

  • A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting. 

  • A tendency to become angry. 

  • Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar. 

  • The heat treatment to which a metal or other material has been subjected; a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment. 

  • State of mind; mood. 

  • Anger; a fit of anger. 

verb
  • To moderate or control. 

  • To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing. 

  • To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine. 

  • To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use. 

  • To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency. 

  • To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment; anneal. 

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