means A temporary framework of poles and platforms erected to support workers and materials during construction or repair, later removed once the structure stands on its own.

from From Old French 'escafaut' (a stage or platform), which came through Vulgar Latin from Greek roots: 'kata-' (down, but here intensifying) joined to 'phalkēs' / 'phalanx'-like words for a beam or plank. The same word once meant the raised platform for public executions — hence 'going to the scaffold' — and the theatrical stage, a reminder that scaffolds have always been where things get built up or brought down in full view.