past master vs specialist

past master

noun
  • One who has an extremely high level of ability or knowledge within an area of achievement or expertise. 

  • Someone who has previously been a master at a given lodge. 

specialist

noun
  • Someone who is an expert in, or devoted to, some specific branch of study or research. 

  • A stenotopic species. 

  • A physician whose practice is limited to a particular branch of medicine or surgery. 

  • Any of several non-commissioned ranks corresponding to that of corporal. 

  • An organism that is specialized for a particular environment. 

adj
  • Specialised, involving detailed knowledge of a restricted topic. 

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