Insulting language from American imprisoned by Lincoln (5)
I believe the answer is:
abuse
'insulting language' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'american imprisoned by lincoln' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'imprisoned by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'lincoln' becomes 'abe' (Abraham Lincoln).
'us' placed inside 'abe' is 'ABUSE'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for abuse that I've seen before include "Deceit" , "Insulting language" , "Malign" , "Subject to verbal assault and insults" , "corrupt practice" .)