brotli
n.n. a computer technology used to make files smaller so they can be sent over the internet faster. It is often used by web browsers to help websites load quickly.
n. a lossless data compression algorithm that uses a combination of a modern variant of the LZ77 algorithm, Huffman coding, and 2nd order context modeling. Developed by Google, it is primarily used for HTTP compression to improve web page loading speeds.
The web server uses brotli to compress its files.
By enabling brotli on their servers, the engineering team reduced the size of their JavaScript files by twenty percent compared to older methods.
While Gzip remains a common standard for legacy systems, brotli offers a superior compression ratio for text-based assets, making it the preferred choice for modern web performance optimization.
Derived from the Swiss-German word Brötli, meaning a small bread roll. The name follows a naming convention established by its predecessor, Zopf, another variety of Swiss bread.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often used as a modifier before other nouns, such as 'brotli compression' or 'brotli encoding'.
Last updated July 22, 2026