| n. | 1. | (Old Law) The arrangement of, or mode of expressing, the terms of a contract or conveyance. |
| 2. | (Law) A qualification involving the idea of variation or departure from some general rule or form, in the way of either restriction or enlargement, according to the circumstances of the case, as in the will of a donor, an agreement between parties, and the like. | |
| 3. | (Law) A fixed compensation or equivalent given instead of payment of tithes in kind, expressed in full by the phrase |
MODUS, civil law. Manlier; means; way.
MODUS, eccl. law. Where there is by custom a particular manner of tithing allowed, different from the general law of taking tithes in kind, as a pecuniary compensation, or the performance of labor, or when any means are adopted by which the general law of tithing is altered, and a new method of taking them is introduced, it is called a modus decimandi, or special manner of taking tithes. 2 Bl. Com. 29.