- The word person to mean a sort of best friend comes from Grey's Anatomy, Season 2, Episode 1, in which Cristina tells Meredith "You're my person." In the drama, Cristina was impregnated by Burke and decides to have an abortion in order to continue her dreams of becoming a surgeon. In filling out the forms for an abortion, she had to list an emergency contact, for which she writes down Meredith. It is in this episode through this phrase that it was established that Cristina and Meredith are best friends. Throughout the series, there have been several references back to this moment and the word person in reference to their best friend status. Now in season 5, there has been enough references to the word person that it has begun to be used by the audiences of Grey's Anatomy in daily speech. Mediated by the television series Grey's Anatomy, the word person has undergone narrowing to mean a specific significant person. This is just an additional sense to the word person and only applies when used in certain circumstances. Also, it is only used by watchers of Grey's Anatomy.
person
noun; other word formation type narrowing
a best friend; someone who is significant or important
Etymology : Person has undergone narrowing from all persons to one significant person. The word person is from Old French persone 'human being,' which is from Latin persona. It meant originally 'character in a drama mask,' possibly borrowed from Estruscan phersu 'mask.'
Source : "You're my person." (Grey's Anatomy, Season 2, Episode 1)
Last modified: 5 December 2008