Dictionary

mezuzah en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /məˈzuːzɔː/
• (Southern-England) audio
• /mɛ-/
• /məˈzʊzə/
• /məˈzuːzə/

Etymology

From post-Biblical Hebrew מְזוּזָה (m'zuzá, məzûzâ, “doorpost”), with reference to Deuteronomy 6:9, a mitzvah (Biblical commandment as interpreted in Jewish law) ordering to “write the words of God on the gates and doorposts of your house”.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:Judaism and occasionally Christianity) A piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21) and attached in a case to the doorpost of a house.
   • When Manny or either of his parents went through their front door they put a finger on their lips and then to the mezuzah on the door frame. 2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights, Vintage, published 2007, page 20:
   • Slothrop gives him the mandala. He hopes it will work like the mantra that Enzian told him once, mba-kayere (I am passed over), mba-kayere . . . a spell against Marvy tonight, against Tchitcherine. A mezuzah. Safe passage through a bad night. . . . 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, 1st US edition, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN, part 3: In the Zone, page 563:
   • If, for some strange reason, you want to eat the fair fruit on the date of purchase, you buy one that's already flecked, race home, and devour it as soon as you've crossed your threshold and kissed the mezuza. 1979 February 3, Nancy Walker, “Going Bananas”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 27, page 11:
   • On the other hand, one may feel profoundly moved with the spirit of true piety, love of God and loyalty to his commandments in the performance of a so-called "traditional commandment," like the fastening of a "mezuzah" to the door-post. 1916, Isaac Husik, A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy:
   • Lubavitchers, Penansky says, believe mezuzahs need no adornment and simply wrap them in cellophane. 1988 September 2, Florence Hamlish Levinsohn, “A Special Connection With God”, in Chicago Reader:
2. An object of similar function in the Samaritan tradition.

Forms

Translations (23)

nl mezoeza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · da mezuzah (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · cs mezuza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · de Mesusa (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · pl mezuza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · ca mezuzà (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · eo mezuzo (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · fi mezuza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · ja メズーザー (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · es mezuzá (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · el μεζουζά (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · lad מזוזה (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · sv mezuza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · fr mezouzah (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · ar مِزُوزَة (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · ru мезу́за (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · fa مزوزا (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · yi מזוזה (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · oc mezozà (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · he מְזוּזָה (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · pt mezuzá (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · it mezuzah (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house) · fr mezouza (piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house)

wikidata: Q247034