The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mezuza \Me*zu"za\, Mezuzah \Me*zu"zah\, Mezuzoth \Mez"u*zoth\, n. [Heb. m[e^]z[=u]z[=o]th, pl. of m[e^]z[=u]z[=a]h doorpost.] A piece of parchment bearing the Decalogue and attached to the doorpost; -- in use among orthodox Hebrews. The term is also used to refer to the small case containing this scroll, together with the biblical inscription inside. The text is usually taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1640s, from Hebrew, literally "doorpost."
Wiktionary
n. (context Judaism English) A piece of parchment inscribed with Pentateuchal texts and attached in a case to the doorpost of a house, in accordance with Jewish law that says that “the Jews must remember the Tenth plague and the blood on the doorposts.”
WordNet
Wikipedia
A mezuzah ( "doorpost"; plural: מְזוּזוֹת mezuzot) is a piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah ( and ). These verses compose the Jewish prayer " Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD (is) our God, the LORD is One". In mainstream, i.e. Rabbinic Judaism, a mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah (Biblical commandment) to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the doorposts of your house" . Some interpret Jewish law to require a mezuzah on every doorway in the home apart from bathrooms and closets too small to qualify as rooms. The parchment is prepared by a qualified scribe (a " sofer stam") who has undergone many years of meticulous training, and the verses are written in black indelible ink with a special quill pen. The parchment is then rolled up and placed inside the case.
Usage examples of "mezuzah".
When he came in, he found me where he had left me, curled on the sofa with the mezuzah in my hand.
She remembered to kiss the mezuzah on the front doorpost on her way out.
Einstein or a Horowitz once they find the mezuzah on the doorpost and the foreskin cut.
That, and the mezuzah at the door told him that the doctor looked after yet another outcast here.
I paged through Deuteronomy trying to find the words that had been in my mezuzah, as if they were a message in a bottle.
As they echoed dully down the stairwell, my eyes wandered for the first time in about two thousand years to the dusty little mezuzah that was nailed to the doorpost of my house.
Jews make a practice of kissing the mezuzah every time they enter a doorway.
To the mezuzah nailed up over the vegetable reefer and the Zionist banner hanging in back of the salad table Da Conho added this prize.
Two more walnut doors, one unmarked, with a mezuzah nailed to the post, the other bearing a brass plaque that said SHIRLEY M.
Seeing a mezuzah tacked at eye level on the right side of the doorframe surprised me.