Family taking in English fair (5)
I believe the answer is:
clean
'fair' is the definition.
('clean' can be a synonym of 'fair')
'family taking in english' is the wordplay.
'family' becomes 'clan' (I've seen this before**).
'taking in' is an insertion indicator.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'clan' placed around 'e' is 'CLEAN'.
(Other definitions for clean that I've seen before include "Squeaky?" , "Wash" , "Not dirty" , "Laundered" , "Untarnished" .)