unset Array # erase any notion of variable array. declare -A Array # make it associative Array=([foo]=one [bar]=two [baz]=three) # give it values. printf '<%s> ' "${Array[@]}" # # List of values. $ printf '<%s> ' "${!Array[@]}" # # List of keys $ printf '<%s> ' "${Array[*]}" # # One string of list of values. $ printf '<%s> ' "${!Array[*]}" # # One string of list of keys.