maestrale
(maɪˈstrɑːleɪ)
Also maestral, maestro (ˈmaɪstrəʊ).
[It. maestrale, f. L. magistrāl-is, f. magister master n.1]
The name of a wind experienced in the Mediterranean (see quot. 1944). Cf. mistral.
| 1766, 1813 [see mistral]. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 622/1 In summer a north-west ‘trade’ wind, the Maestro occurs in the Adriatic. 1920 19th Cent. Aug. 288 The waves..on the beaches of Corfu..come in with a pleasant surge when the northerly maestro is blowing. 1944 Italy (Geogr. Handbk. Ser. B.R. 517, Admiralty, Naval Intelligence Div.) I. v. 415 The maestro (or maestrale), although bearing the same name as the mistral of the Rhône valley, is not to be confused with it. The name is given to NW. winds in the Adriatic, and NW., N., and NE. winds in Liguria and Tuscany. In the west the maestrale is a winter wind (Genoa), but is less cold and dry than the mistral proper. In the Adriatic it is a summer wind. 1967 D. S. Walker Geogr. Italy (ed. 2) iii. 224 The influence of persistent winds (especially the maestrale) is apparent in the tortured shapes of the trees. |