# scaffold

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈskæf.əld/ · frequency rank #28,007

## Definitions
1. A structure made of scaffolding for workers to stand on while working on a building.
2. An elevated platform on which a criminal is executed.
3. An elevated platform on which dead bodies are ritually disposed of, as by some Native American tribes.
4. An accumulation of adherent, partly fused material forming a shelf or dome-shaped obstruction above the tuyeres in a blast furnace.
5. A structure that provides support for some other material.
6. A device in scaffolding, i.e. the provision a framework or support for achieving an intended outcome of internalizing learnings by way of collaboration and later gradual withdrawal of support.

## Etymology
From 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 (“viewing stage”), possibly from Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “back; against”) + Latin -falicum (from fala, phala (“wooden gallery or tower; siege tower”)).

## Easily confused with
- **Stafford** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scaffold-vs-stafford)

## Common misspellings (11)
`csaffold`, `sacffold`, `scafflod`, `scaffodl`, `scaffoldd`, `scaffolld`, `scafofld`, `scafold`, `sccaffold`, `scfafold`, `sscaffold`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scaffold