Church primate put on gold hat (7)
I believe the answer is:
chapeau
'hat' is the definition.
('chapeau' can be a synonym of 'hat')
'church primate put on gold' is the wordplay.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'primate' becomes 'ape' (I've seen this before).
'put on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'gold' becomes 'au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'ch'+'ape'+'au'='CHAPEAU'
(Other definitions for chapeau that I've seen before include "Fashionable hat" , "Cap (French or heraldic?)" , "(French) hat" , "something to put on noodles" .)