Bird with the French name (5)
I believe the answer is:
title
'name' is the definition.
(eg the name of a book)
'bird with the french' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'tit' (tit is a kind of bird).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'tit'+'le'='TITLE'
(Other definitions for title that I've seen before include "established claim to ownership" , "Chapter heading" , "Name - legal right" , "big role" , "Name - sign of rank" .)