Using 文字 instead of 言葉


A famous Napoleon quote is sometimes written like this:

> 余の辞書に不可能の文字はない。
>
> The word impossible is not in my dictionary.

Does 文字 actually mean "word" in this sentence? I thought it always means
"character". Or is it used as a plural that refers to all three symbols? Would
the "feel" of this quote change if I put 言葉 (or maybe even 単語) there instead?
Are there other situations where I can replace these words with 文字?




The word 「文字」 is still for "character(s)" and it makes us feel that it is
referring to each character printed on a dictionary. Thus it is still natural
(though often in fictions) to say 「余の辞書に不可能の **三文字** はない」.

If we are to use 「言葉」, then it would be 「余の辞書に不可能 _という_ 言葉はない。」, which is
slightly closer to the English sentence.

These two practically have the same meaning, though the nuance has such a
slight difference.

To clarify the difference of the nuance:

> 余の辞書に不可能の文字はない。  
>  One cannot find the characters 「不可能」 printed on my dictionary.  
>  余の辞書に不可能という言葉はない。  
>  One cannot find the word 「不可能」 listed on my dictionary.




The word 「文字」 is still for "character(s)" and it makes us feel that it is
referring to each character printed on a dictionary. Thus it is still natural
(though often in fictions) to say 「余の辞書に不可能の **三文字** はない」.

If we are to use 「言葉」, then it would be 「余の辞書に不可能 _という_ 言葉はない。」, which is
slightly closer to the English sentence.

These two practically have the same meaning, though the nuance has such a
slight difference.

To clarify the difference of the nuance:

> 余の辞書に不可能の文字はない。  
>  One cannot find the characters 「不可能」 printed on my dictionary.  
>  余の辞書に不可能という言葉はない。  
>  One cannot find the word 「不可能」 listed on my dictionary.

