[chrisseaton]

> What does a transpiler have? What is the common factor between all transpilers?

High to high translation. Limited lowering.

> Who decides on this layering of which languages are higher level or lower level?

You know it when you see it.

Who decides what makes a book a 'horror book'? There's no authority on that either. You know it when you see it.

> C2Rust doesn't call itself a transpiler, it calls itself a translator.

Yes a translator - a translating compiler - a transpiler.

> This term seems completely useless to me.

Not sure why the term seems to wind people up so much - it just add a little extra info.