modus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a customary payment or other composition made instead of a tithe in kind; historical English law

   The parish accepted a fixed annual modus instead of one tenth of each harvest.

2. 2
   noun

   a manner, arrangement, or qualification governing an agreement or rule; rare and chiefly legal

   The deed established a special modus for calculating the tenant's obligation.

A learned borrowing of Latin modus, 'measure, manner, or mode.' The tithing sense shortens modus decimandi, literally 'manner of tithing,' for a customary substitute that modified the ordinary obligation.

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