Thought of French being freed (12)

I believe the answer is:

deliberation

'thought' is the definition.
(deliberation is a kind of thought)

'of french being freed' is the wordplay.
'of french' becomes 'de' ('of' in French).
'being freed' becomes 'liberation' (being freed or liberated).
'de'+'liberation'='DELIBERATION'

(Other definitions for deliberation that I've seen before include "Careful thought" , "Long and careful consideration" , "decision-making process" , "circumspection?" , "discussion" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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