Dressed as a boy, known by the acronym DRAB (although it generally is not written in all caps; we have chosen to do so in the definition to make it easier to see), is also known as "dressed resembling a boy.” The term originated in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period of English history, when it was used to describe the practice of female transvestites dressing as men. It was an alternative to drag, used to describe male transvestites dressing as women.
In time, all transvestites were said to be dressing in drag when they wore clothes typical of their opposite gender. This led to a shift in the use of the term drab. Today the term drab is used to refer to the practice of male transvestites wearing male clothing.