According to standard etymological dictionaries (e.g. Kluge's), High German Pferd 'horse' (formerly 'post horse') is an early loanword from Late Latin paraverēdus 'post horse'. This is derivated from verēdus, a Celtic (Gallic) loanword *uerēdos < *uɸo-rēdos (e.g. Cymru gorwydd 'horse'), a deverbal noun from *uɸo-rēd- 'to travel fast', a compound verb from *uɸo- 'under' and *rēd- 'to ride'1.
However, IMHO this etymology is phonetically implausible, as it would need a huge haplology (syllable collapse) to explain the German word. Taking into account the High German consonant shift and the Dutch cognate paard, the protoform would be *perd-, which I consider a Wanderwort from Semitic *pVrd- (˜ *paradʕ/z-) 'an equid'.
A similar root *bVrdʕ- ˜ *barz/dʕ- 'mule, horse' is the origin of Late Latin burdus 'mule' and būr(r)icus 'donkey, small horse' (a diminutive form which suggests an assimilated variant *burrus).
Interestingly enough, Latin verēdus was borrowed (through Greek béraidos, beredos) into Arabic barīd- 'express, courier' and similar forms in other Semitic languages, thus contributing to the widespread confusion about these roots.
__________________________________________A similar root *bVrdʕ- ˜ *barz/dʕ- 'mule, horse' is the origin of Late Latin burdus 'mule' and būr(r)icus 'donkey, small horse' (a diminutive form which suggests an assimilated variant *burrus).
Interestingly enough, Latin verēdus was borrowed (through Greek béraidos, beredos) into Arabic barīd- 'express, courier' and similar forms in other Semitic languages, thus contributing to the widespread confusion about these roots.
1 Delamarre (2008): Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, p. 314.
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