# transsexual
## English
### Alternative forms

* transexual (rare)

### Etymology

From 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

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /tɹænzˈsɛkʃuəl/, /tɹɑːnz-/, /tɹæns-/
* (General American) IPA: /ˌtɹænzˈsɛkʃuəl/, /ˌtɹæn(t)s-/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛkʃuəl
* Hyphenation: trans‧sex‧ual

### Adjective

transsexual (comparative more transsexual, superlative most transsexual)
* Of a person, having changed, or being in the process of changing, physical sex by undergoing medical treatment, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and/or optionally sex reassignment surgery (SRS).
* Of or relating to such a change.
** 1997, Cornelis Dirk Doorn, Towards a gender identity theory of transsexualism, Vrije Universiteit, page 7:In the asexual or analloerotic transsexual autogynephilia does not lead to erotic attractions, either to women or to men.

#### 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is generally taken to encompass transsexual and has largely displaced it; transsexual is now often considered outdated, although some people who have undergone SRS still prefer it; compare the usage notes at transgender.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

* anti-transsexual
* antitranssexual
* transsexualism
* transsexualist
* transsexuality
* transsexualness
* tryke

#### Descendants

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

#### Translations
### Noun

transsexual (plural transsexuals)
* A transsexual person.
** 1992 May 8, Tamara Severns, “Open Letter To Michigan Festival Organizers”, in Gay Community News, page 4:Lesbians for Justice therefore appeals to the organizers of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival to nullify its "womyn-born-womyn only" policy, and to allow the attendance of post-operative male-to-female transsexuals at all future festivals.
** 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, 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.
** 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 usage notes at transgender regarding the use of this word as a noun.

#### Synonyms

* TS
* trans person

#### Hyponyms

* trans man, trans woman

#### Derived terms

* homosexual transsexual

#### Related terms

* transsex
* transsexed
* transgender

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

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

### References

* 1 2 Thomas E. Bevan (2014) The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism, →ISBN, 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.
* 1 2 Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter, editors (2006), Transgender Rights, →ISBN, 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.”
* ↑ “Glossary of Terms: Transgender”, in GLAAD Media Reference Guide 11th Edition‎, 2024, archived from the original on 2024-01-11:TERM TO AVOID: “transgenders,” “a transgender” / Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, “Tony is a transgender,” or “The parade included many transgenders.” […] BEST PRACTICE: transgender people, a transgender person / For example, “Tony is a transgender man,” or “The parade included many transgender people.”

### Further reading

* Transsexual on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “transsexual”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
* “transsexual”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
* “transsexual”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “transsexual”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Anagrams

* transexuals

## Catalan
### Etymology

From trans- +‎ sexual.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [tɾən.sək.suˈal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [tɾan.sek.suˈal]

### Adjective

transsexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural transsexuals)
* transsexual

### Noun

transsexual m or f by sense (plural transsexuals)
* a transsexual person

### Derived terms

* transsexualitat

### See also

* transgènere

## Interlingua
### Adjective

transsexual (not comparable)
* transsexual

### Noun

transsexual (plural transsexuales)
* transsexual

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French transsexual. By surface analysis, trans- +‎ sexual.

### Adjective

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