Mean home to retiring English (6)
I believe the answer is:
denote
'mean' is the definition.
(denoting is a kind of meaning)
'home to retiring english' is the wordplay.
'home' becomes 'den' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'retiring' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'to' reversed gives 'ot'.
'den'+'ot'+'e'='DENOTE'
(Other definitions for denote that I've seen before include "Be the sign or symbol of" , "Need to (anag) - indicate" , "Be an indication of" , "Designate" , "Indicate, be a sign of" .)