gist vs substance

gist

noun
  • The most essential part; the main idea or substance (of a longer or more complicated matter); the crux of a matter; the pith. 

verb
  • To summarize, to extract and present the most important parts of. 

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 gist and substance occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )