Why is "${ARRAY[@]}" expanded into multiple words, when it's quoted?

I don't understand why "${ARRAY[@]}" gets expanded to multiple words, when it's quoted ("...")? Take this example: IFS=":" read -ra ARRAY <<< "foo:bar:baz" for e in "${ARRAY[@]}"; do echo $e; done foo bar baz Any other variable that I expand in quotes, say "${VAR}", results in a single word: VAR="foo bar baz" for a in "${VAR}"; do echo $a; done foo bar baz Can anyone explain this to a novice Linux user?