Transvestite is a word that's more complicated in that it doesn't have a really shared meaning. Literally it means "cross dress" and in some places that's exactly who it describes - cross dressers. In other places, like commonly in the US, it is used more for people who get a sexual thrill about dressing like and being perceived as members of the opposite sex.
This is in counter point to Cross Dressers who often describe a feeling of having a "female side" that needs expressed (that may or many not include sex while dressed). The point of Cross Dressing is to give expression to a part of their identity that they feel is repressed in daily life.
Please Note: These are simply what I have gleamed from discussions with and reading the words of self-identified CDs and TVs. I could be way off base, and if so, welcome correction. As I said, the distinctions, if any, will be regional and can sometimes be muddy.
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