Foreign character shortly put name to parent (5)
I believe the answer is:
sigma
'foreign character' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shortly put name to parent' is the wordplay.
'shortly' means to remove the last letter.
'put name to' becomes 'sign'.
'parent' becomes 'ma' (ma is a kind of parent).
'sign' with its final letter taken away is 'sig'.
'sig'+'ma'='SIGMA'
(Other definitions for sigma that I've seen before include "Greek letter used as a symbol for summation" , "Gr. letter; rhymes with mark of disgrace" , "Athenian character" , "Letter from Athens" , "local opening in Salonika" .)