Courteous Rod welcoming Italian (6)
I believe the answer is:
polite
'courteous' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'rod welcoming italian' is the wordplay.
'rod' becomes 'pole' (pole is a kind of rod).
'welcoming' indicates putting letters inside (in sense of 'inviting in').
'italian' becomes 'it' (abbreviation for Italian).
'pole' placed around 'it' is 'POLITE'.
(Other definitions for polite that I've seen before include "Civil and good-mannered" , "Having good manners, socially correct" , "Respectful and considerate" , "Of courteous manners" , "Cultivated" .)