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Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The libretto of the opera is based in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco. Elements also appear to derive from the novel Madame Chrysanthème (1887) by Pierre Loti. According to one scholar, the story of the opera was based on events that actually occurred in Nagasaki in the early 1890s.  

The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan. It was very poorly received despite the presence of such notable singers as soprano Rosina Storchio, tenor Giovanni Zenatello and baritone Giuseppe De Luca in the lead roles. This was due in large part to the late completion and inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act into two acts and making other changes. On May 28, 1904, this version was performed in Brescia and was a huge success.

Between 1915 and 1920, Japan's best-known opera singer Tamaki Miura won international fame for her performances as Cio-Cio San. Her statue, along with that of Puccini, can be found in the Glover Garden in Nagasaki, the city where the opera is set.

Madama Butterfly is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire for companies around the world and it ranks as Number 8 in the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.

Puccini wrote five versions of the opera. The original version was in two acts and had its premiere on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan. After a disastrous premiere, Puccini withdrew the opera and substantially rewrote it, this time in three acts. This second version was performed on May 28, 1904, in Brescia, where it was a great success. It was this second version that premiered in the United States in 1906, first in Washington, D.C., in October, and then in New York in November, by Henry Savage's New English Opera Company (so named because it performed in English-language translations).

In 1906, Puccini wrote a third version, which was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1907, Puccini made several changes in the orchestral and vocal scores, and this became the fourth version, which was performed in Paris.

Finally in 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the "standard version". Today, the standard version of the opera is the version most often performed around the world. However, the original 1904 version is occasionally performed as well.

Premieres of the standard version in major opera houses throughout the world include those in Buenos Aires on July 2, 1904, this being the first performance in Argentina. In London its first performance in Britain was given on July 10, 1905 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, while the first US performance was presented in English on October 15, 1906, in Washington, D.C., at the Columbia Theater. The first performance in New York took place on November 12 of the same year at the Garden Theater. Four years later, the first Australian performance was presented at the Theatre Royal in Sydney on March 26, 1910, starring Amy Castles.