Drougoubitai

The Drougoubitai, also Drogobitai or Dragobitai (), variously anglicized as Drugubites, Drogubites, Druguvites, Draguvites etc., were a South Slavic group (Sclaveni) who settled in the Balkans in the 7th century. Two distinct branches are mentioned in the sources, one living in medieval Macedonia to the north and east of Thessalonica and around Veroia (in modern Greece).

==Etymology== As in the historical sources the ethnonym is mentioned differently, some scholars consider that Droguvites in Macedonia and Draguvites in Thrace are two different tribes, but the difference is probably due to Greek mispronunciation of Slavic "ъ" (as "ο", "ου" or "α"). It is considered to derive from "*Drъgъvitji" (from Proto-Slavic word "*drъgъva", 'swamp'), and to be "undoubtedly" related to the East Slavic tribe of Dregoviches or originating from the same area of Pripyat Marshes.