Encountered one returning with the article (4)
I believe the answer is:
item
'the article' is the definition.
(both can mean an object or thing)
'encountered one returning' is the wordplay.
'encountered' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter').
'one' becomes 'I' (Roman numeral).
'returning' says the letters should be written backwards.
'met'+'i'='meti'
'meti' in reverse letter order is 'ITEM'.
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for item that I've seen before include "Element" , "Unit or distinct part" , "Individual article or unit" , "Feature" , "point" .)