Beluga essentially very dear, commonly (3)
I believe the answer is:
luv
'dear commonly' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.
'beluga essentially very' is the wordplay.
'essentially' says to take the centre.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
The middle of 'beluga' is 'lu'.
'lu'+'v'='LUV'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for luv that I've seen before include "Term of endearment" , "show affection informally" .)