In web development you often see the term compile which means to convert a higher level code (source code) to a lower level (distribution code). Often its LESS or Sass into CSS using a tool like Grunt, Gulp, or desktop application like codekit.
In node.js based projects you will often find a source folder containing all of the pre-compiled files like Sass. Then a distribution folder that contains all of the converted CSS code.
Below is a tutorial demonstrating how to use Grunt to convert Sass into browser readable CSS.
More information on Wikipedia.
Term: Compile
