Article held by distant parent (6)
I believe the answer is:
father
'parent' is the definition.
(type of parent)
'article held by distant' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'held by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'distant' becomes 'far' (similar in meaning).
'the' inserted inside 'far' is 'FATHER'.
(Other definitions for father that I've seen before include "Patriarch" , "pops" , "PA" , "So-called priest" , "Old man" .)