Test, quiet, taken by the French, for instance (7)
I believe the answer is:
example
'for instance' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'test quiet taken by the french' is the wordplay.
'test' becomes 'exam' (synonyms).
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano', ie soft or quiet).
'taken by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'exam'+'p'+'le'='EXAMPLE'
(Other definitions for example that I've seen before include "Specimen, illustration" , "Precedent" , "lesson" , "Something to be imitated" , "Characteristic item" .)