[mis-truh
l, mi-strahl] 
| a cold, dry, northerly wind common in southern France and neighboring regions. |
[mee-stral for 1; mees-trahl for 2] | 1. | Fré⋅dé⋅ric [frey-dey-reek] , 1830–1914, French Provençal poet: Nobel prize 1904. |
| 2. | Ga⋅bri⋅e⋅la [gah-vree-e-lah] , (Lucila Godoy Alcayaga), 1889–1957, Chilean poet and educator: Nobel prize for literature 1945. |
| mis·tral (mĭs'trəl, mĭ-sträl') n. A dry cold northerly wind that blows in squalls toward the Mediterranean coast of southern France. [French, from Provençal maestral, from Old Provençal, from Late Latin magistrālis, of a master, from Latin magister, master; see meg- in Indo-European roots.] |
| Mis·tral (mĭ-sträl', mē-) French writer and leader in the revival of Provençal as a literary language. He shared the 1904 Nobel Prize for literature. |
| Mistral, Gabriela Pen name of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga. 1889-1957. Chilean poet whose works include Sonnets of Death (1914) and Tala (1938). She won the 1945 Nobel Prize for literature. |
mistral
cold and dry, strong wind in southern France that blows down from the north along the lower Rhone River valley toward the Mediterranean Sea. It may blow continuously for several days at a time, attain velocities of about 100 km (60 miles) per hour, and reach to a height of 2 to 3 km. It is strongest and most frequent in winter, and it sometimes causes considerable damage to crops. The velocity of the wind is intensified as it blows down from the highlands to the coast and by the "jet effect" that results as it is funneled through the narrow Rhone valley.
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