The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

conversion to iteration

    A transformation applied to
   functional programs that replaces recursion with
   iteration.  A tail-recursive function can be compiled to
   an iterative loop such that the recursive call becomes a
   jump back to the start and the parameters are held in
   registers which are updated with new values each time around
   the loop.

   This is closely related to tail recursion optimisation.

   (2019-11-21)