Small amount of study initially having importance (10)
I believe the answer is:
smattering
'small amount' is the definition.
(smattering can mean a small amount of something)
'study initially having importance' is the wordplay.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
'having importance' becomes 'mattering' (something which matters has importance).
The initial letter of 'study' is 's'.
's'+'mattering'='SMATTERING'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for smattering that I've seen before include "Hint" , "Tiny amount (of knowledge)" , "superficial knowledge" , "Little bit" , "little knowledge" .)