Etymology

Noun

1. 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.”
   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

     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

2. }
   • 2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights, Vintage 2007 ed., page 20:

     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.