Meaning

noun a platform from which criminals are executed (hanged or beheaded)

noun a temporary arrangement erected around a building for convenience of workers

verb provide with a scaffold for support

originFrom Middle English scaffold, scaffalde, from Anglo-Norman schaffaut, eschaffaut, eschafal, eschaiphal, escadafaut (“platform to see a tournament”) (Modern French échafaud), from Old French es- (indicating movement away or separation) (from Latin ex- (“out, away”)) + chafaud, chafaut, chafault, caafau, caafaus, cadefaut (“scaffold for executing a criminal”), from Vulgar Latin *catafalcum…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0