Use spear in former empire (7)
I believe the answer is:
persian
'former empire' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'use spear in' is the wordplay.
'use' is an anagram indicator.
'spear'+'in'='spearin'
'spearin' with letters rearranged gives 'PERSIAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for persian that I've seen before include "Breed of cat" , "From Iran?" , "Iranian language" , "Long-haired cat" , "Type of cat or carpet" .)