Limits of cognate sense affected meaning (7)
I believe the answer is:
essence
'meaning' is the definition.
(I know that essence is a type of meaning)
'limits of cognate sense affected' is the wordplay.
'limits of' suggests removing the centre.
'affected' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cognate' with its centre removed is 'ce'.
'ce'+'sense'='cesense'
'cesense' with letters rearranged gives 'ESSENCE'.
(Other definitions for essence that I've seen before include "Intrinsic quality" , "Core, most vital part" , "Plant extract or concentrate" , "Concentration; nub" , "Nitty-gritty" .)