transvestism

American  

[trans-ves-tiz-uhm, tranz-] / trænsˈvɛs tɪz əm, trænz- /

Also transvestitism

noun

1. Psychiatry. the practice, especially of those assigned male at birth, of wearing clothing usually associated with a different gender.

2. Older Use: Often Offensive. the practice of crossdressing.

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Other Word Forms

• transvestic adjective

Etymology

Origin of transvestism

First recorded in 1925–30; from German Transvestismus, from Latin trāns- trans- + vest(īre) “to clothe, dress” ( vest ( def. ) ) + German -ismus -ism

Example Sentences

You talk in the book about how we've evolved in how we look about gender identity, yet "transvestism" is still in the DSM.

From Salon • Nov. 5, 2021

By being liberated my half sisters and brothers and myself are able to educate the ignorant gays and straights that transvestism is a valid life style.

From Slate • Jun. 26, 2019

Across the river, at the open-roofed Shakespeare’s Globe, another production that features transvestism is being conducted in a similarly exuberant vein.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2015

Sadly, the film does not show Caroline Matilda's famous penchant for transvestism, which outraged Copenhagen even more than her extramarital affair.

From The Guardian • Jul. 6, 2012

Hirschfeld emphasizes the fact that neither hermaphroditism nor eunuchoidism is commonly associated with homosexuality, and that a large proportion of the cases of transvestism, as defined by him, are heterosexual.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 Sexual Inversion by Ellis, Havelock