European people covering Master of Arts in effluent (9)

I believe the answer is:

emanation

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'arts in effluent' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'european people covering master' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'people' becomes 'nation' ().
'covering' indicates putting letters inside.
'master' becomes 'ma' (Master of Arts).
'e'+'nation'='enation'
'enation' enclosing 'ma' is 'EMANATION'.

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for emanation that I've seen before include "Something given off" , "Issue" , "Something produced from a source" , "discharge" , "Something flowing out from a source" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.