Start work in French (4)
I believe the answer is:
open
'start' is the definition.
(I know that open is a type of start)
'work in french' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'op' (common abbreviation for 'opus').
'in french' becomes 'en' ('in' in French).
'op'+'en'='OPEN'
(Other definitions for open that I've seen before include "Willing" , "Eager to receive" , "unresolved" , "hardly high-security" , "Unenclosed" .)