Melt quenching was employed to synthesize 55B(2)O(3)-20ZnO-(25-x)Li2O-xBi(2)O(3) (0 <= x <= 25 mol%) glass system. XRD, FTIR, DSC, EDX, XPS and optical absorption studies were conducted to elucidate structural, thermal and optical properties of glasses. Both XRD and DSC patterns proved the non-crystallinity of glasses. EDX analysis disclosed the existence of all constituent ions in the respective glasses. FTIR spectra illustrated that the glass contains BO3, BO4, BiO6 alongside B-O-B and mixed covalent and ionic Zn-O-B/B-O-Bi/Zn-O-Bi/Bi-O-Bi linkages. Variations in thermal properties of glasses were corroborated with physical and structural investigations. The variations in optical properties like E-opt, Delta E, n, M, R-M, Lambda(th) and alpha(2-)(o) were well correlated with structural changes occurred with Bi2O3. XPS data validated the existence of non-bridging oxygens and found to be responsible for the variations in optical properties of all glasses. The high thermal stability of BZLBi3 could be useful for fiber drawing applications.