This chapter considers the semantic origins and evolution of dharma by examining its occurrences in major ancient Indian texts and philosophical schools. It analyses the semantic range of dharma to determine what the term encompasses and implies, arguing that both classical Brahmanical influence and non-Vedic semantic shifts contributed to the development of dharma. The chapter emphasizes the examination of dharma through Vedic, non-Vedic and post-Vedic usages to reveal the rich conceptualizations of dharma throughout its historical development. In Vedic literature, dharma evolves from a cosmic and foundational principle in the Ṛgveda to a social and moral regulation in post-Vedic texts. The study suggests that the concept of dharma may have indigenous roots, based on the cultural-historical and linguistic cues of a non-Aryan past, challenging its Indo-Iranian and Indo-Aryan connections. The chapter also explores how dharma is understood in non-Vedic and post-Vedic traditions, including the Mahābhārata, Bhagavadgītā, Rāmāyaṇa, legal traditions and various schools of Indic philosophy. This semantic shift challenges colonial interpretations of dharma as exclusively religious and instead reflects it as a dynamic, complex concept.