Modes

Modes are basically repurposed uses of existing scales by altering which note is used as the tonic. The most common mode is the Aeolian, which uses the 6th note of the major scale as its root. As we've already studied, this is the natural minor scale.

Disambiguation with Historical Connotations

Historically in music, the term mode (modus in Latin) was used to refer to various common practices in music, such as common rhythms, etc. See wikipedia for more information. We are only focused on the repurposed scales. Historically, there have been 3 separate times and locations where this has occurred. One is the Greeks, and one is the medieval churches in the West. We are not concerned with these, as their basic foundation of music theory and scales tend to differ from the ones we have learned. That leaves us with the "Modern" conception/usage of modes.