What is the freewheeling diode operation?

Very often in translations from German to English the term 'free wheeling diode' for 'Freilauf-Diode' is used. Generally the correct translation for this term would be 'recovery diode'. The usage of the term 'free wheeling' only will be correct in mechanical aspects, e.g. the rear wheel of a bicycle or the clutch of the transmission line of a car.