Merrimac, Illinois is a small unincorporated community in the historic Moredock Precinct of Monroe County, Illinois

Monroe County, Illinois

Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 32,957, which is an increase of 19.3% from 27,619 in 2000. Its county seat is Waterloo...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located in the American Bottoms, adjacent to the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 levee due south of that rivers confluence with the Meramec. It takes its name, from this river whose name was translated as 'Ugly Water' in Algonquian

Algonquian languages

The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...

 by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Jesuits in the area. However scholars of the language translate it as 'place of strong current', which would certainly seem consistent.