[adimitrov]

I'll just continue spoiling your Dutch fun :-)

It's from Greek σωφρονιστήρ /sophonister/ through Latin (dens sapientiae). It's been "Wisdom tooth" all along. The story goes that these teeth appear approximately at the age where one becomes "wise."

Ha. Few of the people whose wisdom teeth came and went (painfully) are wise already. Increased life spans and all that…

Then again, sophos does not just mean wise in Greek, but also just clever, cunning, or prudent. ;-)

[mercer]

Pish, what do the Greeks know!

Thanks for your comments though. I love this kind of stuff!