Which Leonardo da Vinci device was intended to move water using a helical screw?

Leonardo da Vinci’s helical water-lifting device was an Archimedes’ screw.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a spiral surface inside a cylinder or around a central shaft. When the screw turns, water is carried upward through the spaces between the spiral and the housing. Leonardo studied and drew versions of this ancient machine as part of his investigations into hydraulics and mechanical motion.

The device is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who is said to have developed or improved it in antiquity. Leonardo therefore did not originate the basic invention, but his notebooks show how Renaissance engineers analyzed older technologies and adapted them for new projects.

An Archimedes’ screw can move water for drainage, irrigation, and other tasks. It is not the same as Leonardo’s aerial screw, whose proposed rotation concerned flight rather than pumping. The shared word “screw” describes the spiral geometry, not the machines’ purpose.