North American English has a reputation (4)
I believe the answer is:
name
'a reputation' is the definition.
(name is a kind of reputation)
'north american english' is the wordplay.
'north' becomes 'n' ('N' can be a synonym of 'north').
'american' becomes 'am' (abbreviation in some contexts).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'n'+'am'+'e'='NAME'
'has' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for name that I've seen before include "Call; reputation" , "Monicker" , "Amen (anag)" , "Identification" , "Designation - reputation" .)