essence vs substance

essence

noun
  • A significant feature of something. 

  • Constituent substance. 

  • The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through a distillation process. 

  • A being; especially, a purely spiritual being. 

  • An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring, or as a restorative. 

  • The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory. 

  • The inherent nature of a thing or idea. 

  • Fragrance, a perfume. 

substance

noun
  • The essential part of anything; the most vital part. 

  • Physical matter; material. 

  • Material possessions; estate; property; resources. 

  • Hypostasis. 

  • Drugs (illegal narcotics) 

  • Substantiality; solidity; firmness. 

  • A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. 

verb
  • To give substance to; to make real or substantial. 

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