for those who aren't familiar with transpiling, in this case it's kind of a legitimate use of the term: taking one flavor of compiled code (java bytecode, binary stuff that runs on a jvm) and translating that directly to another type of compiled code (wasm, binary stuff that runs in a browser)
My (less sarcastic) understanding was that "compiling" means translation from a "high-level"/"humans-first" to a "low-level"/"machines-first" language while "transpiling" is translation from one high-level to another high-level language.
That would make gcc, clang (mostly) and javac clear examples of compilers while GWT, coffeescript and the C preprocessor would be transpilers.
I guess TeaVM would fit neither by those definition but it would definitely be closer to a transpiler.
Then again, I believe GWT calls itself a compiler, so I got nothing...
> A compiler is computer software that transforms computer code written in one programming language (the source language) into another programming language (the target language).
Later on it lists some classes of compilers that could be called by more specific names than just "compiler".
"Compilation means taking one type of compiled code and translating it into another type of compiled code."
Here, we start with Java byte code which isn't exactly human-readable, hence the use of the term "transpile". But then again, you're right that on some abstract level, it all is just a translation process from one representation to another.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."