modus

1 :  the immediate manner in which property may be acquired (as by occupation or prescription) or the particular tenure by which it is held

2 plural moduses :  a customary mode of tithing by composition instead of by payment in kind still took his tithe pig or his modus — George Eliot

3 :  a mode of procedure :  a way of doing something no modus of accomplishing this desired result — Ezra Pound

4 :  mode

5 or mode plural modes :  the relationship between the long and the breve in mensural music In minor modus there are two breves to the long, whereas in major modus there are three. — compare prolation tempus