Tongue at a pound a can (5)
I believe the answer is:
latin
'tongue' is the definition.
(I know that Latin is a type of Italic)
'at a pound a can' is the wordplay.
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'pound' becomes 'l' (abbreviation e.g. Lsd - pounds, shillings, pence).
'a can' becomes 'tin' (both are metal containers).
'a' after 'l' is 'la'.
'la'+'tin'='LATIN'
(Other definitions for latin that I've seen before include "a quarter of Parisians" , "Language of Cicero" , "A Romance language" , "Classical language" , "Language of old 8 down" .)