The Spanish and the German for tree (5)
I believe the answer is:
elder
'for tree' is the definition.
(elder is a kind of tree)
'the spanish and the german' is the wordplay.
'the spanish' becomes 'el' ('the' in Spanish).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the german' becomes 'der' ('the' in German).
'el'+'der'='ELDER'
(Other definitions for elder that I've seen before include "Senior member of a tribe" , "comparatively aged" , "Tree and Mormon church officer" , "Senior - presbyter" , "Church leader; tree" .)