# transvestite

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɹænzˈvɛs.taɪt/ · frequency rank #45,711

## Definitions
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. 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.
3. An animal that engages in sexual mimicry.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin trāns + vestītus, form of vestiō (“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).

## Common misspellings (19)
`rtansvestite`, `tarnsvestite`, `trannsvestite`, `transevstite`, `transsvestite`, `transvesitte`, `transvesstite`, `transvestiet`, `transvestitte`, `transvesttie`, `transvesttite`, `transvetsite`, `transvsetite`, `transvvestite`, `tranvsestite`, `trasnvestite`, `trnasvestite`, `trransvestite`, `ttransvestite`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/transvestite