The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word COHERENCE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
C
O
H
E
R
E
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result COHERENCE
- Sticking together, clubs formerly curbing her energy
- Firm, therefore, accepts emergency regulations, initially in agreement
- College formerly imbued with this place’s sense of unity
- Consistency shown by college formerly, at this point limited
- In this place, infiltrated swindle by church union
- One creche assembled union
- Study secures present church agreement
- Consistency in this place in chapter not repeated?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "union" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case union = coherence.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does COHERENCE mean?
COHERENCE noun- The quality of cohering, or being coherent; internal consistency.
- A logical arrangement of parts, as in writing.
- (of waves) The property of having the same wavelength and phase.
- A semantic relationship between different parts of the same text.