Travesti

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A theatrical role or costume in which a performer dresses as the opposite sex ; a term for a transgender or cross-dressing person, especially in Latin American usage
2. Cross-dressing performance or disguise in which an actor takes on a character of the other gender ; a person who lives or presents as the opposite gender, a usage common in parts of Latin America
3. A costume that lets a performer play a role of the opposite sex on stage ; a word used in Latin America for a person who cross-dresses or identifies with a different gender

Etymology: "Travesti" entered English as a theatrical term, borrowed through Spanish and Portuguese from French, where "travesti" was the past participle of "travestir," meaning to disguise or dress someone in different clothes. The word is a doublet of "travesty," the two forms descending from the same French source but reaching English by different routes, so the same root that gave us a mockery of a serious work also gave us the costume-changing performer. The English sense that stuck is the one the word still carries: a performer, usually a man, who dresses in women's clothing on stage. In the theatre of earlier centuries, when female roles were often played by men or boys, the term described this practice directly, while "travesty" moved toward its sense of a grotesque or absurd imitation.