Definitions get so diluted, deluded and reluded. As I was taught a decade or more ago, and I still hold as the definition I go by:

script languages are compiled on the fly. you can program in scripting languages, but you must include the compilation time of the script + the loading of the interpreter to be significant. thus you have mod_perl and fastcgi. the compilation is cached but as an addon facility. php has something or the other like that.

java is kinda in that land, where the jvm loading is the only significant part.

where as c has no vm beyond the kernel and it's os facilities.