Sentence:  Geoffrey Riddell Bishop of Ely […] made a request of him for timber from his woods towards certain edifices going on at Glemsford. The Abbot, a great builder himself, disliked the request; could not however give it a <WSD>negative</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Refusal or withholding of assents; prohibition, veto (from 15th c.)