Named songbird by the French department (6)
I believe the answer is:
titled
'named' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'songbird by the french department' is the wordplay.
'songbird' becomes 'tit' (tit is a type of songbird).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'department' becomes 'd' (abbreviation eg in MOD Ministry of Defence).
'tit'+'le'+'d'='TITLED'
(Other definitions for titled that I've seen before include "Like posh fellow" , "Upper-class" , "peer?" , "Like a duke, say" , "Given a name" .)