What is 'lover' in Japanese? Romanized, please. :)?

Question

Just trying to figure out what the equivalent of a lover or something highly significant would be in Japanese. Feel free to give one or more examples.

Answer 1

aijin or koibito  (愛人　恋人)

Answer 2

well in Japanese both "koi" and "ai" mean love.... however, the two words have meanings that differ slightly. the word i am familiar with for "lover" is aijin.... "ai" meaning love, obviously, and "jin" meaning person.... such as calling an American person "Amerika-jin" or Japanese person "Nihon-jin".... but like i said, "ai" is not the only word for love. the guy that posted before me gave you a word stemming from the "koi" word love.

ah, i see.... so i suppose koibito would account for the lover in an affectionate and emotional relationship, whereas aijin would still be a lover, but it would account for someone in a relationship that is purely sexual.

Answer 3

Fortunately there's actually a direct translation!

恋人　（こいびと）   koibito

Pronounced "coy-bee-toe".

The toe of a coy bee xD  But not really.

It works for both male and female, so it really is a perfect translation!  That's rare sometimes in Japanese.

If you want to be gender-specific, kanojo (kah-no-joe) means "girlfriend", and kareshi (kah-reh-shee) means boyfriend.

cheers!

EDIT:  As for "aijin", that word is usually used to refer to mistresses.  Like a woman outside a marriage.  It also means "lover" but carries a kind of negative nuance.