English

Alternative forms

• transexual (rare)

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is generally taken to encompass transsexual and has largely displaced it; transsexual is now often considered outdated, although some people who have undergone SRS still prefer it; compare the usage notes at transgender.^[3] Neither term should be confused with transvestite (which see for more).^[1][2][4]

Synonyms

• transsex (less common), transsexed (uncommon)

Translations

Descendants

• Japanese: トランスセクシャル ‎(toransusekusharu)

Noun

transsexual ‎(plural transsexuals)

1. A transsexual person.
   • 1995, To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar:

     When a man is a woman trapped in a man's body, and has a little operation, he is a transsexual.

   • 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 978-0-7914-3965-4, 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 978-0-7684-2351-8, page 133:

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

   • 2012, Patrick Slattery, Curriculum Development in the Postmodern Era

     Being a transsexual is not something that can be ignored or suppressed forever. Unlike the fascinations of the cross dresser or the partially altered transgenderist, the absolute compulsion of classical transsexualism is a matter of life and death.

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

Derived terms

• transsexualism
• transsexuality

Related terms

• transsex
• transsexed
• transgender

Translations

See also

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

References

1. 1 2 Thomas E. Bevan, The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism (2014, ISBN 1440831270), page 42: "The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people [... including] many transgender people [who] advocated the use of the term much more than Prince. [...] Transsexuals constitute a subset of transgender people."
2. 1 2 Transgender Rights (2006, ISBN 0816643121), edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter; page 4: "From signifying a subject position between cross-dresser and transsexual, the meaning of transgender expanded radically in the early 1990s to include them, along with other cross-gender practices and identities."
3. ↑ “transsexual” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
4. ↑ GLAAD media reference guide

Catalan

Adjective

transsexual m, f ‎(masculine and feminine plural transsexuals)

1. transsexual

Noun

transsexual m, f ‎(plural transsexuals)

1. a transsexual person

Derived terms

• transsexualitat

See also

• transgènere