different between transsexual vs transvestite

English

Alternative forms

• transexual (rare)

Etymology

Trans- +? sexual. Introduced to English along with transsexualism by David Oliver Cauldwell in 1949, based on the German word Transsexualismus coined by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1923. Popularized in the mid 1960s, around the same time that transgender was coined; transgender had become an umbrella term and largely but not entirely displaced transsexual by the 1990s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?æn(z)?s?k?u?l/, /t?æn(z)?s?ksju?l/

Adjective

transsexual (comparative more transsexual, superlative most transsexual)

1. (of a person) Having changed, or being in the process of changing, physical sex (because it does not match desired sex) by undergoing medical treatment such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and optionally sex reassignment surgery (SRS), or rarely only SRS.

Usage notes

• Although some authors distinguish transsexual (pertaining to physical sex) and transgender (pertaining to gender), transgender is generally taken to encompass transsexual and has largely displaced it; transsexual is now often considered outdated, although some people who have undergone SRS still prefer it; compare the usage notes at transgender. Neither term should be confused with transvestite (which see for more).

Synonyms

• transsex (less common), transsexed (uncommon)

Derived terms

• transsexuality
• transsexualness
• transsexualism, transsexualist

Descendants

• Japanese: ????????? (toransusekusharu)

Translations

Noun

transsexual (plural transsexuals)

1. A transsexual person.
   • a. 1998, Myra Love, Reality’s Friends, excerpted in Gertrude M. James Gonzalez and Anne J. M. Mamary (editors), Cultural Activisms: Poetic Voices, Political Voices, SUNY Press (1999), ?ISBN, page 107:

     He claimed that they had this wonderful and loving relationship in which the transsexual-to-be had felt that his suitor truly loved him the way he was and didn’t want him to have the surgery, […]

   • 2003 December 9, Kitty Fine, “How to Tell If Your Fella Wants to Be a Woman!”, in Weekly World News, ISSN 0199-574X, page 14:

     Hundreds of women every year are taken completely by surprise when their husbands announce they want to undergo sex-change surgery — and the news is even more shocking when comes, as it often does, from a burly he-man who’d given no clue to his inner girl. ¶ But the signs are definitely there if your husband is dreaming of becoming a transsexual, says a new study by a top sexologist.

   • a. 2006, anonymous, “My Husband’s Secret”, in Grandma Joy, Grandma Joy's Hope for Hurting Women: Healing the Wounds of the Past and Gaining Hope for the Future, Destiny Image Publishers (2006), ?ISBN, page 133:

     He was wearing women’s clothes before he had the surgery; then, he actually became a transsexual, and they (amazingly) stayed together.

Usage notes

• See the usage note at transgender regarding the use of this type of word as a noun.

Synonyms

• TS
• trans person

Hyponyms

• trans man, trans woman

Related terms

• transsex
• transsexed
• transgender

Translations

See also

• male-to-female
• female-to-male
• intersexual, intersex
• transvestite

References

Further reading

• Transsexual on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Lynn Conway's website on transsexuality

Anagrams

• transexuals

Catalan

Adjective

transsexual (masculine and feminine plural transsexuals)

1. transsexual

Noun

transsexual m or f (plural transsexuals)

1. a transsexual person

Derived terms

• transsexualitat

See also

• transgènere

Interlingua

Adjective

transsexual (not comparable)

1. transsexual

Noun

transsexual (plural transsexuales)

1. transsexual

Romanian

Etymology

From French transsexual.

Adjective

transsexual m or n (feminine singular transsexual?, masculine plural transsexuali, feminine and neuter plural transsexuale)

1. transsexual

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin trans + vestite, form of vesti? (“I clothe, I dress”) (as in English vestment, vest). Literally, a "cross-dresser". From transvestitism, from German Transvestitismus, coined in 1910 by Magnus Hirschfeld (the practice itself is much older).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?ænz?v?sta?t/

Noun

transvestite (plural transvestites)

1. A person who sometimes wears clothes traditionally worn by and associated with the opposite sex; typically a male who cross-dresses occasionally by habit or personal choice.
2. (clinical psychology, psychiatry, pathology) A person, typically a heterosexual male, who compulsively seeks and derives paraphilic sexual arousal from cross-dressing, especially if the urges and behavior cause the patient distress or social impairment.

Usage notes

• This term is relatively formal (Latinate); cross-dresser is more casual, but whereas the verb cross-dress is common, the verb transvest is quite rare.
• Transvestite should not be confused with transgender (see that term for more); transvestites are often happy with their gender and have no desire to change their sex, but simply enjoy being able to cross-dress from time to time. When speaking of to or about an individual who identifies as transgender, the term transvestite is typically seen as derogatory.
• The term should also not be confused with drag queen (“person who performs femininity”) or drag king (“person who performs masculinity”); those terms are specifically for performers.
• The clinical definition is far more restrictive than the colloquial usage of the term, drawing a sharp distinction between a transvestite versus those who engage in other types of cross-dressing not associated with sexual arousal—such as a drag queen who cross-dresses to perform a role for entertainment purposes.

Synonyms

• cross-dresser
• (pejorative) tranny
• TV
• see also Thesaurus:transvestite

Derived terms

Related terms

• transgender
• transsexual

Translations

See also

• eonism
• eonist

References

• Oliven, John F., M.D. (1974) Clinical Sexuality: A Manual for the Physician and the Professions, Third edition, Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company, ?ISBN
• American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-III), Third edition, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., ?ISBN
• American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-III-R), Third Revised edition, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., ?ISBN
• World Health Organization (1992) The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines, Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, ?ISBN
• American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV), Fourth edition, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., ?ISBN
• American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR), Fourth Text Revision edition, Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., ?ISBN
• American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5), Fifth edition, Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., ?ISBN