mezuzah

or me·zu·za

[ muh-zooz-uh; Sephardic Hebrew muh-zoo-zah; Ashkenazic Hebrew muh-zoo-zuh ]

noun,plural me·zu·zoth, me·zu·zot, me·zu·zos [Sephardic Hebrew muh-zoo-zawt; Ashkenazic Hebrew muh-zoo-zohs]; /Sephardic Hebrew mə zuˈzɔt; Ashkenazic Hebrew məˈzʊ zoʊs/; English me·zu·zahs.
  1. Judaism. a parchment scroll inscribed on one side with the Biblical passages Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21 and on the other side with the word Shaddai (a name applied to God), inserted in a small case or tube so that Shaddai is visible through an aperture in front, and attached by some Jews to the doorjambs of the home.

Origin of mezuzah

1
First recorded in 1640–50; from Hebrew məzūzāh, literally, “doorjamb, doorpost”

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British Dictionary definitions for mezuzah

mezuzah

/ (məˈzʊzə, -ˈzuː-, Hebrew məzʊˈzɑ, Yiddish məˈzʊzə) /


nounplural -zuzahs or -zuzoth (Hebrew -zuˈzɔt) Judaism
  1. a piece of parchment inscribed with biblical passages and fixed to the doorpost of the rooms of a Jewish house

  2. a metal case for such a parchment, sometimes worn as an ornament

Origin of mezuzah

1
from Hebrew, literally: doorpost

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012