What device did Leonardo da Vinci design to move water using a screw-shaped mechanism?

The water-moving device Leonardo da Vinci studied and designed around a screw-shaped mechanism is the Archimedes’ screw.

An Archimedes’ screw uses a helical blade inside a cylinder or trough. When the screw rotates, water trapped between the turns is carried upward. Leonardo made detailed studies of screw mechanisms and water-lifting machines, adapting the principle for engineering applications.

The device was not invented by Leonardo. It is traditionally attributed to Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE, although the exact early history of the machine is debated. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze and depict mechanical arrangements with Renaissance engineering detail.

This water screw is different from Leonardo’s aerial screw, the flying-machine concept often linked with a helicopter. Both use a helical form, but one lifts water while the other was intended to generate vertical lift in air.