A letter copied or recorded (5)
I believe the answer is:
taped
'recorded' is the definition.
(taping is a kind of recording)
'a letter copied' is the wordplay.
'a letter' becomes 't' (**).
'copied' becomes 'aped' ('ape' can be a synonym of 'copy').
't'+'aped'='TAPED'
'or' is the link.
(Other definitions for taped that I've seen before include "recorded" , "On record; tied up" , "Bound" , "put on record" .)