Island the French shed tears over (6)
I believe the answer is:
lesbos
'island' is the definition.
(Greek island)
'the french shed tears over' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'les' (plural form of 'the' in French).
'shed tears' becomes 'sob' (both can mean to cry).
'over' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'sob' written backwards gives 'bos'.
'les'+'bos'='LESBOS'
(Other definitions for lesbos that I've seen before include "Greek island, birthplace of Sappho" , "Jot" , "Greek island -- home of 3" , "Island, home of Sappho" .)