Quiet, because around the French (7)
I believe the answer is:
silence
'quiet' is the definition.
(I know that quiet can be written as silence)
'because around the french' is the wordplay.
'because' becomes 'since' ('since' can mean 'because').
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'since' enclosing 'le' is 'SILENCE'.
(Other definitions for silence that I've seen before include "may be required in court" , "Nothing said" , "Absence of racket" , "What's left of burnt coal" , "Quiescence" .)