scaffold

▪ I. scaffold, n.
    (ˈskæfəld)
    Forms: α. 4 scaffot, 5 skaffaut, 4, 6, 9 dial. -at. β. 4 scaffalde, 4–5 skaf(f)ald, 5 scaffhold, skafold, 5–6 scaffolde, scafold(e, 5–7 skaffold, 6 scaffald, -ould, skefold, schapfold, 4– scaffold. γ. 5 schafhold, chaff-, schaffold, shaffolde. δ. 6 skaffell, -oll.
    [a. NFr. forms corresponding to Central OF. schaffaut, eschaffaut, eschafal, eschaiphal, earlier escadafaut = Pr. escadafalc, formed with prefix es- (:—L. ex- out) on the Com. Rom. word represented by OF. chafau(l)t (mod.F. chafaud), earlier caafau-s, cadefaut, Pr. cadafalc, OCat. cadafal, Sp. † cadafalso, now cadahalso, cadalso, Pg. cadafalso, It. catafalco (whence F. catafalque catafalque):—popular L. *catafalcum, of uncertain formation: according to some scholars, f. Gr. prefix κατα- (see under catafalque) + -falicum, f. fala, phala wooden tower or gallery.
    For other related forms see catafalque, and cf. med.Lat. scadafale (12th c.), scadafaltum (13th c.), scafaldus, scalfaudus, etc. (15th c.). The Romanic word has been adopted by continental Teut. langs.: (M)Du. schavot, G. schavot(t, Da. skafot. With the δ-forms in Eng. cf. scaffoldage.]
    A. Illustration of Forms.

α 1349 Skaffotes [see B. 1]. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 343 Scaffatis, ledderis, and coueryngis. a 1575 Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne Cl.) 68 Vpoun twa skaffattis. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Skaffat, corr. of scaffold.

β 1354 Skaffald [see B. 1]. 1435 Contract Fotheringhay Ch. (1841) 28 Ladderis, Tymbre, Scaffolds, Gynnes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 442/1 Scafold, stage, fala. c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 298 Here Pylat syttyth in his skaffald. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. viii. (S.T.S.) II. 176 To be rehersit on scaffaldis for admiratioun and delite. 1536 Kyngston in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 63 The preparacion of skefolds. 1570 Levins Manip. 219/10 A Scaffould, theatrum, scena. c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. (1903) 308 Mounting vpon stalls, or litle skaffolds.

γ 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. xliv. 484 They were set vpon schafholdes to gyue the Iugement of these two Knyghtes. 1514 Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb. (MS.), Payd for x naylls for þe chaffoldes. a 1552 Leland Itin. (1769) IX. 140 Apon Schaffoldis yn the midle of the market place.

δ 1581 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 197/1 Wpoun the skaffell the tyme of his executioun.

    B. Signification.
    1. a. A temporary platform usually supported on poles or (sometimes) trestles, but occasionally suspended, and designed to hold the workmen and materials employed in the erection, repairing, or decoration of a building. Also pl., but now usually sing., an assemblage of such platforms with their supporting poles, = scaffolding.

pl. 1349 Acc. Exch. K.R. Bundle 462 No. 16 lf. 7 In .xxvj. peciis maeremii emptis pro scaffotes ad idem opus. 1646 W. Jenkyn Ref. Remora 30 The building's set up, let the scaffolds be pulld down. 1696 Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 32 They must needs be..abolished, like scaffolds that are removed when the buildings are finished. 1737 Pope Hor. Ep. ii. i. 146 Away, away! take all your scaffolds down, For Snug's the word: My dear! we'll live in Town. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 351 The crowds of workmen, the scaffolds and the masses of hewn stone [etc.].

sing. 1354 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 94 In mercede Laur. Wrigth sublevante le skaffald in choro. 1360–1 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 385 Cum cratis factis pro skafald. 1442 Eton Coll. Acc. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 387, v. dosyn of hyrdelez for skafold. 1691 d' Emiliane's Frauds Romish Monks 182 These Monks, out of Curiosity, whilst the Work-men were gone to get their Dinner, did climb up the Scaffold..to view their Work. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 97 Bricklayers raise a low scaffold to build a brick wall. 1838 Murray's Hand-Bk. N. Germany 159 He was suspended by a scaffold, lying on his back, his eyes protected by a pair of glasses from the falling dust. 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 497/2 As the building rises, the scaffold is strengthened by diagonal poles, the lower ends of which rest upon the ground, and which are tied to the vertical pieces wherever they intersect them. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 423 Every bricklayer who falls from a scaffold.

fig. 1641 Denham Sophy iv. i, These outward beauties are but the props and scaffolds On which we built our love. 1701 Swift Contests Nobles & Comm. iii. Wks. 1751 IV. 37 He [sc. Sylla] abolished the Office of Tribune, as being only a scaffold to tyranny, whereof he had no further use. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 408 Figure, parable, hypothesis..serve as scaffolds in raising the building of righteousness in opinion and conduct. 1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 107 But man—we, scaffold of score brittle bones.

    † b. A painter's easel. Obs.

1601 Holland Pliny xxxv. x. II. 535 Zeuxis..brought upon the scaffold a table, wherein were clustres of grapes so lively painted, that the very birds of the aire flew flocking thither. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 197 An old woman kept a large boord, alreadie fitted upon the Asse or scaffold, to have something drawne upon it.

    c. Mining. (See quots.)

1860 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss. (ed. 2), Derbysh. Terms 43 Scaffold, in a mine, a platform made, where some miners work above the heads of others. Ibid., S. Staffs. Terms 78 Scaffold, planking elevated by stays and ladders, in order to allow the miner to ascend and disengage the coal in the upper part of the seam. 1893–4 Northumbld. Gloss., Scaffold, in mining, the platform at the top of a winning.

    † 2. A military engine for assailing a wall. Obs.

1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 601 Syndry scaffatis thai maid vith-all That war weill hyar than the wall. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4176 They [ne] dredde noon assaut Of ginne, gunne, nor skaffaut. 1481 Caxton Godfrey xxix. 63 They toke poles and made scaffholdes..whiche they sette to the walles. c 1520 Barclay Jugurtha (1557) 78 b, Afterwarde he commaunded scaffoldes to be made about the walles.

    † 3. A raised platform, seat, or stand, used for the purpose of exhibiting persons or actions to the public view, making proclamations, or the like.

c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1675 An heraud on a scaffold made an ho. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. 506 The kynge..causyd an hyghe scafolde to be made..where moch people beynge assemblyd, he shewyd vnto them a longe processe of his wrongefull enprysonement. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccclxix. 606 The yonge kynge was..in a chayre lypt up on high,..and all y⊇ yong newe knyghtes on lower scaffoldes at his fete. 1535 Coverdale 1 Esdras ix. 42 Eszdras the prest & reder of y⊇ lawe stode vp vpon a scaffolde of wodd. 1590 Greene Mourn. Garm. Wks. (Grosart) IX. 155 Rosamond set vpon a scaffold, to take view of all. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. vi. 13 Solomon had made a brasen scaffold..and had set it in the midst of the Court, and vpon it hee stood. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 146 A scaffold, like those belonging to Queristers, in some of our Cathedrall Churches. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 54 At the other end of the Hall..there is a little Scaffold, on which are several Dervishes, that play on Flutes and Drums.

    4. spec. A platform or stage on which theatrical performance or exhibition takes place; esp. in early use, a temporary stage on which a mystery play was performed. Obs. exc. Hist.

c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 198 Somtyme..He pleyeth Herodes on a scaffold hye. 1507 in E. K. Chambers Mediaeval Stage (1903) II. 392 [A] schapfold [and] pagentts [are mentioned]. 1519–20 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 304 Paid for a quarter for the skaffold ouer þe porch ayenst palme⁓sonday. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Scena, Orestes often⁓tymes represented on scaffoldes in playes. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 47 Brought in lyke a mute vpon a scaffold, which departeth dumbe. 1599 A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) vii. 45 Make scaffalds clare for cumlie comedies. [1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. ii. 143 The ecclesiastical plays..were usually performed in churches, or chapels, upon temporary scaffolds erected for that purpose.]

fig. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 564 In the middest of such a..wonderfull scaffold and theatre. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 560 You ought to have so much respect, as not to be a publick Spectacle on an infamous Scaffold.

    † 5. A raised platform or stand for holding the spectators of a tournament, theatrical performance, etc. Also, a gallery in a theatre or church. Obs.

1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. vi. 191 There were scaffoldis and holes that lordes and ladyes myghte beholde and to gyue the pryse. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. xxi. (S.T.S.) I. 119 Þai war constrenit to mak public setis and scaffaldis in commoun placis quhare playis war devisit. 1597 Hall Sat. i. iii, Shame that the Muses should be bought and sold, For euery peasants brasse, on each scaffold. 1638 [see scaffold v. 1]. 1671 Milton Samson 1610 The other side was op'n, where the throng On banks and scaffolds under Skie might stand. 1727 MSS. Dk. Portland (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 19, I hope to get a good place in the Abbey for Lady Margaret Harley, though till the scaffolds are built I can't yet tell whereabouts it will be. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 891/2 There was a show of gladiators to be exhibited..and most of the magistrates had caused scaffolds to be erected round the place, in order to let them out for hire.

fig. 1661 Feltham Resolves ii. xxxviii. 259 By setting us upon an open and adjacent Scaffold, it gives us a view of the actions..that have sway'd the affairs of the World.

    6. An elevated platform on which a criminal is executed. Phr. to go to the scaffold (= ‘to be executed’), to bring or send to the scaffold, etc. Hence the scaffold is often put for ‘execution’, ‘capital punishment’.

1557 More Rich. III (1641) 307 He was at Salisbury..on a new skaffold beheaded. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. xiv. iv. 204 He brought to the skaffold many descended of noble houses. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xl. 196 She vnabashed, mounting now the Skaffold, theare attends The fatall Stroke. 1769 Junius Lett. xiv. 59 Paths which naturally conduct a minister to the scaffold. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxiv, I knew at Paris a criminal..who suffered the sentence..showing no particular degree of timidity upon the scaffold. 1849–50 Alison Hist. Europe III. xiii. §88. 92 We have..weighed the scaffold against the oppression of the Convention, and preferred the scaffold. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 256 The one man whom..William sent to the scaffold on a political charge.

    7. A raised framework of wood used for other purposes; among the North American Indians, for the disposal of the dead (cf. scaffold v. 4). Also, a framework upon which tobacco is dried.

1534 Fitzherb. Husb. §32 It is better to laye thy pees and benes without vppon a reke, than other corne, and it is better vppon a scaffolde than vppon the grounde. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 48 There was made here a ships loading of fish the last yeare, where still stands the stages, and drying scaffolds. a 1779 Cook Voy. Pacific iii. ii. II. 35 The carcase of the dog, with what belonged to it, were laid on a whatta, or scaffold, about six feet high. 1784 J. Smyth Tour U.S.A. II. 134 When the tobacco plants are cut and brought to the scaffolds. 1812 Brackenridge Jrnl. in Views Louisiana (1814) 203 A kind of scaffolds, ten or fifteen feet in height, which I was informed were erected..by the neighboring settlers for the purpose of shooting the deer by moon light... The hunter ascends the scaffold, and remains until the deer approaches. Ibid. 261 The scaffolds are supported with four forks, and sufficiently large to receive one or two bodies. 1886 C. G. W. Lock Tobacco 75 Some prefer hanging the tobacco on scaffolds in the field until it is ready to be put in the barn and cured by the fire. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 424/2 Red shipping qualities [of tobacco] are prepared by leaving the cut stems either in the field or hung on scaffolds in the barns for a few days to wilt and wither in the air.

    8. Iron-founding. ‘An obstruction in a blast furnace above the tuyeres caused by an accumulation or shelf of pasty, unreduced materials, adhering to the lining’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881).

1861 W. Fairbairn Iron 48 So that the materials..may [not]..be so retarded as to adhere in a half-liquid state to the brick-work, and cool there, thus forming what are known by the name of scaffolds. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron vii. (ed. 2) 142 When a scaffold is discovered, the blast is eased so as to reduce the support from below due to the pressure of blast. 1892 Min. Evid. Labour Comm. Group A. II. 304 The variation of the temperature in the furnace itself would cause what are technically called scaffolds.

    9. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) scaffold board, † scaffold flake (see flake n.¹ 1), scaffold pole, scaffold vantage; scaffold bracket (see quot.); scaffold hole, a putlog-hole; (sense 4) † scaffold pageantry, † scaffold wheel; † scaffold play, a mystery play; so † scaffold-player; (sense 6) scaffold step.

1592–3 Act 35 Eliz. c. 11 §1 So muche of *Shaffolde Borde in quantitye as the saide Clapborde amounteth unto. 1866 Tomlinson's Cycl. Arts & Manuf. II. 482/2 The scaffold boards are supported by the putlogs.

1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Scaffold-bracket, an implement to form a footing for a board to support a person in roofing.

1365–6 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 127, 20 *scaffalde flakes factis ad dictas fenestras.

c 1568 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 115 John clerke making *scaffold holes, 4 d. 1774 G. White Selborne, To Barrington 26 Feb., Perhaps they nestle in the scaffold-holes of some old or new deserted building.

1687 Refl. on Hind & P. 24 No more than a Mountebank is to be credited, who after a deal of *Scaffold-Pageantry to draw Audience [etc.].

1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 138 As if in *scaffold plaies, he looked to haue napkins cast vp.

1559 in Strype Ann. Ref. I. ii. ix. 436 The preachers and *scaffold players of this newe religion.

1798 W. Hutton Life 7 If a straggling *scaffold pole could be found. 1862 Sat. Rev. 15 Mar. 298 The scaffold poles round the Guards Memorial.

1843 Neale Ball. & Songs for People 21 So steadfastly the *scaffold-steps That good Archbishop trod. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. xii. 167 Guido was last to mount the scaffold⁓steps..as atrociousest in crime.

1884 ― Ferishtah, Camel-Driver, Reason aims to raise Some make-shift midway *scaffold-vantage, whence It may..peer below.

1584 in Coventry Corpus Christi Plays (1902) 91 A iron pynne and a cotter for the *skaffolde whele.

▪ II. scaffold, v.
    (ˈskæfəld)
    Also 6 scafold, 7 schaffold, 7 scaffole.
    [f. scaffold n. Cf. OF. eschafauder.]
    † 1. trans. To furnish with a platform, stand, or gallery. Obs.

a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 10 b, The Hall was scafolded and rayled on all partes. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 95 The Lower House desyre that the p[ainted] ch[amber] be scaffolde. 1636 E. Pagitt Christianogr. iii. 101 The streets were scaffolded [ed. 1640 scaffoled] and covered with precious cloth. 1638 Bp. R. Montagu Art. Enq. Visit. A 2 Is your Church scaffolded every where or in part? do those scaffolds so made, annoy any mans seat, or hinder the lights of any windows? 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars i. 13 The Lists now set up, and scaffolded like a stage.

    2. To put scaffolding up to (a building). Also intr. in indirect passive with unto.

a 1662 Heylin Laud (1668) 222 The Tower or Steeple [was] Scaffolded to the very top, with an intent to take it down to the very Arches. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng 213 They must of necessity be scaffolded unto, or underpropt at least. Ibid. 230 Can..such stupendious Stones..be..wrought, raised, scaffolded unto, set and finished in five Moneths? 1676 C. Hatton in Hatton Corr. (Camden) 134 The middle of Westminster Hall wase all schaffolded. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer lxx, It was scaffolded to the very attics.

    b. transf. To support with poles.

1884 Harper's Mag. 394/2 The apple-trees were scaffolded with great stakes to keep their branches from breaking.

    c. fig. To prop up.

169. C. Blount Dial. in Coll. Poems 24 New Titles may be Scaffolded with Laws.

    † 3. To send to the scaffold; to execute. Obs.

1716 Mem. in J. H. Burton Lives of Forbes & Ld. Lovat v. (1847) 116, I was sent to the castle, I believe, to be scaffolded next day if I had not been delivered.

    4. To place (food) on a raised framework of wood, for the purpose of drying it or protecting it from animals; among North American Indians, to expose (corpses) on a scaffold (see scaffold n. 7).

1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 323 note, They..scaffolded their dead kinsman. 1806 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) ii. 155 In the afternoon we scaffolded some meat. 1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man II. xxii. 292 The remains of those whose bodies had been scaffolded.

    5. intr. Iron-founding. To form a ‘scaffold’.

1880 Wright in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 296 When a furnace shows a tendency to ‘scaffold’ (by the fritting together of lumps which form a comparatively solid mass inside the furnace, preventing a charge from descending properly).

    Hence ˈscaffolded ppl. a.

1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man II. xxii. 292 When the Mandans buried the remains of their scaffolded dead, they left the skull uninterred. 1871 E. B. Tylor Prim. Cult. II. xii. 40 The Samoyed's scaffolded coffin.

Oxford English Dictionary