Confondus - context in the sentence "Chaque fois qu'il franchissait le seuil d'une classe, élèves et professeurs confondus se taisaient à l'unisson"

Jim L.C1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

Confondus - context in the sentence "Chaque fois qu'il franchissait le seuil d'une classe, élèves et professeurs confondus se taisaient à l'unisson"

This was a very enjoyable (and challenging) dictée (but then I do have a fetish for the subjunctive for some reason!)

A vocabulary question, however. I can't quite see what function the word "confondus" is playing in the sentence "Chaque fois qu'il franchissait le seuil d'une classe, élèves et professeurs confondus se taisaient à l'unisson." Clearly the sense of this is something like "Whenever he crossed the threshold of a classroom, pupils and teachers alike fell silent together", but how does "confondu" function in this? I suppose I'm asking how it literally translates, so I can make sense of its idiomatic use... 

Asked 2 hours ago
Jim L. asked:

Confondus - context in the sentence "Chaque fois qu'il franchissait le seuil d'une classe, élèves et professeurs confondus se taisaient à l'unisson"

This was a very enjoyable (and challenging) dictée (but then I do have a fetish for the subjunctive for some reason!)

A vocabulary question, however. I can't quite see what function the word "confondus" is playing in the sentence "Chaque fois qu'il franchissait le seuil d'une classe, élèves et professeurs confondus se taisaient à l'unisson." Clearly the sense of this is something like "Whenever he crossed the threshold of a classroom, pupils and teachers alike fell silent together", but how does "confondu" function in this? I suppose I'm asking how it literally translates, so I can make sense of its idiomatic use... 

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