English witticism is put into Old English for balance (9)

I believe the answer is:

equipoise

'balance' is the definition.
('equipoise' can be a synonym of 'balance')

'english witticism is put into old english' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'witticism' becomes 'quip' (I've seen this before**).
'put into' indicates putting letters inside.
'old english' becomes 'oe'.
'is' inserted within 'oe' is 'oise'.
'e'+'quip'+'oise'='EQUIPOISE'

'for' acts as a link.

(Another definition for equipoise that I've seen is " balance".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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