diff --git a/.changeset/11676-retire-overdue-key.md b/.changeset/11676-retire-overdue-key.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff03ca2232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/11676-retire-overdue-key.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+'@object-ui/i18n': minor
+'@object-ui/plugin-timeline': minor
+---
+
+The timeline's unused "Overdue" bucket label is removed: `timeline.bucket.overdue` is gone from all ten language packs and from the timeline's built-in English defaults (objectui#11676).
+
+Nothing has read the key since a past date on a timeline went under "Earlier". No timeline heads a group "Overdue": a date is overdue only when it is a due date and the record is still open, and a timeline declares neither fact. Overdue records are still marked where record state lives: the date cell's due treatment, the gantt's alert colour and conditional formatting.
+
+**Narrowed public surface (`@object-ui/i18n`).** The exported `en` pack and the `TranslationKeys` type derived from it lose one member, `timeline.bucket.overdue`. Code that reads `en.timeline.bucket.overdue`, or passes that key to `t()` expecting a translation, has to drop it. This is released as `minor` under objectui's version policy, which keeps the major aligned with `@objectstack`. The date cell's "Overdue 3d" phrase is a different key, `fields.relativeDate.overdue`, and stays in every pack.
diff --git a/.changeset/11676-timeline-past-bucket.md b/.changeset/11676-timeline-past-bucket.md
index dfc84547b3..1668a17c16 100644
--- a/.changeset/11676-timeline-past-bucket.md
+++ b/.changeset/11676-timeline-past-bucket.md
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ Without a `groupByField`, `ObjectTimeline` groups its entries into date buckets,
 
 "Overdue" needs two facts: that the date is a due date, and that the record is still open. Nothing the timeline reads declares either one. The timeline configuration (`startDateField`, `endDateField`, `titleField`, `groupByField`, `colorField`, `scale`) names no due-date role, and no field option marks a closed state. So a past day is now "Earlier", and the timeline does not guess either fact from a field name or a status value. Today, Tomorrow, This week, Next week, Later and No date are unchanged.
 
-**Widened public surface (`@object-ui/i18n`).** One new key in all ten language packs, `timeline.bucket.earlier`, so the exported `en` pack and the `TranslationKeys` type derived from it gain one member. `timeline.bucket.overdue` is kept in every pack, and the timeline no longer reads it. No component prop or exported type changes.
+**Widened public surface (`@object-ui/i18n`).** One new key in all ten language packs, `timeline.bucket.earlier`, so the exported `en` pack and the `TranslationKeys` type derived from it gain one member. The timeline no longer reads `timeline.bucket.overdue`, and this release also removes that key from every pack (the "Overdue" bucket label retirement entry). No component prop or exported type changes.
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ar.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ar.ts
index e97e93dd85..02a764627f 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ar.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ar.ts
@@ -939,7 +939,6 @@ const ar = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "متأخر",
       earlier: "سابقاً",
       today: "اليوم",
       tomorrow: "غداً",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/de.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/de.ts
index 4ff0cdf47e..dad896ce81 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/de.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/de.ts
@@ -828,7 +828,6 @@ const de = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "Überfällig",
       earlier: "Früher",
       today: "Heute",
       tomorrow: "Morgen",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/en.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/en.ts
index 289012b32a..032a6e5a8c 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/en.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/en.ts
@@ -1058,7 +1058,6 @@ const en = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: 'Overdue',
       earlier: 'Earlier',
       today: 'Today',
       tomorrow: 'Tomorrow',
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/es.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/es.ts
index eca44bcf19..15de671462 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/es.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/es.ts
@@ -856,7 +856,6 @@ const es = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "Atrasado",
       earlier: "Antes",
       today: "Hoy",
       tomorrow: "Mañana",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/fr.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/fr.ts
index b67968b446..805edd3f12 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/fr.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/fr.ts
@@ -852,7 +852,6 @@ const fr = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "En retard",
       earlier: "Plus tôt",
       today: "Aujourd'hui",
       tomorrow: "Demain",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ja.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ja.ts
index 779f5718af..7d8f5a8e4b 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ja.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ja.ts
@@ -828,7 +828,6 @@ const ja = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "期限超過",
       earlier: "以前",
       today: "今日",
       tomorrow: "明日",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ko.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ko.ts
index 1d1f3f80fa..0f99c3e2e6 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ko.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ko.ts
@@ -828,7 +828,6 @@ const ko = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "기한 초과",
       earlier: "이전",
       today: "오늘",
       tomorrow: "내일",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/pt.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/pt.ts
index 5220971d73..88f919aca1 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/pt.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/pt.ts
@@ -851,7 +851,6 @@ const pt = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "Atrasado",
       earlier: "Antes",
       today: "Hoje",
       tomorrow: "Amanhã",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ru.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ru.ts
index 7e8476fe14..a4bce464cc 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/ru.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/ru.ts
@@ -887,7 +887,6 @@ const ru = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: "Просрочено",
       earlier: "Ранее",
       today: "Сегодня",
       tomorrow: "Завтра",
diff --git a/packages/i18n/src/locales/zh.ts b/packages/i18n/src/locales/zh.ts
index 753b9732ac..c683b85f40 100644
--- a/packages/i18n/src/locales/zh.ts
+++ b/packages/i18n/src/locales/zh.ts
@@ -853,7 +853,6 @@ const zh = {
   },
   timeline: {
     bucket: {
-      overdue: '已逾期',
       earlier: '更早',
       today: '今天',
       tomorrow: '明天',
diff --git a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/ObjectTimeline.tsx b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/ObjectTimeline.tsx
index b44e43f8f2..d5dd6e0302 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/ObjectTimeline.tsx
+++ b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/ObjectTimeline.tsx
@@ -772,10 +772,10 @@ export const ObjectTimeline: React.FC<ObjectTimelineProps> = ({
     // every record under "Overdue", Done records included. ⛔ Not inferred
     // from a field NAME (`due_date`) or a status VALUE (`done`): a guess here
     // reads like a declaration and is wrong for every object that spells
-    // either one differently. Whether a declared signal should bring the
-    // judgement back is an open question on objectui#11676; until one exists,
-    // the honest answer is the calendar position alone. Pinned in
-    // `__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx`.
+    // either one differently. Triage ruled on objectui#11676 that no timeline
+    // says "Overdue" (ruling A), so the bucket is the calendar position alone;
+    // a due-date timeline would be a new card that declares its signals in the
+    // spec first. Pinned in `__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx`.
     const dateBucket = (raw: any): string => {
       if (!raw) return t('timeline.bucket.noDate');
       const ts = startOfDay(toDisplayDate(raw));
diff --git a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx
index 7a2f7e02d1..0e5648d1ac 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx
@@ -25,9 +25,16 @@
  * and `scale`, and nothing that names a due-date role or a closed state; the
  * spec's field options declare no closed marker either. So a past day gets
  * the neutral `timeline.bucket.earlier` ("Earlier"), and no field NAME and no
- * status VALUE is read as one of those two facts. Whether an object-bound
- * timeline should ever say "Overdue", and through which declared signal, is
- * the open question on the card, not something this file decides.
+ * status VALUE is read as one of those two facts.
+ *
+ * ── The key retires (triage ruling A on the card) ──────────────────────────
+ * No timeline says "Overdue": that judgement stays where record state lives
+ * (the date cell's due treatment, the gantt's alert colour, conditional
+ * formatting). So `timeline.bucket.overdue`, which nothing read once the past
+ * bucket became "Earlier", is gone from `TIMELINE_DEFAULT_TRANSLATIONS` and
+ * from all ten packs; the last `describe` pins both. A due-date timeline, if a
+ * producer ever asks for one, is a new card that declares its signals in the
+ * spec first, not a row restored here.
  *
  * The clock is frozen on Tuesday 2026-10-06, and every value is a date-only
  * string, which the shared `toDisplayDate` step reads as local midnight of the
@@ -40,7 +47,9 @@ import React from 'react';
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { cleanup, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { I18nProvider, LocalizationProvider } from '@object-ui/i18n';
+import { BUILT_IN_LANGUAGE_CODES, builtInLocales } from '@object-ui/i18n/locales';
 import { ObjectTimeline } from '../ObjectTimeline';
+import { TIMELINE_DEFAULT_TRANSLATIONS, translateTimelineDefault } from '../useTimelineTranslation';
 
 vi.mock('@object-ui/react', async (importOriginal) => {
   const actual = await (importOriginal() as Promise<Record<string, unknown>>);
@@ -143,8 +152,7 @@ describe('ObjectTimeline past-date bucket (objectui#11676)', () => {
   it('no field name is read as a due-date role: a past `due_date` on an open record is "Earlier" too', () => {
     // The card's rule: field names are not guessed. Nothing the timeline reads
     // DECLARES this field a due date or this status open, so the neutral bucket
-    // is the honest answer until a declared signal exists (the card's open
-    // question). A name heuristic would flip this case to "Overdue".
+    // is the honest answer. A name heuristic would flip this case to "Overdue".
     const rows: Row[] = [
       { id: '1', title: 'Renew lease', due_date: '2026-10-02', status: 'open' },
       { id: '2', title: 'File taxes', due_date: '2026-10-08', status: 'open' },
@@ -161,3 +169,43 @@ describe('ObjectTimeline past-date bucket (objectui#11676)', () => {
     expect(document.body.textContent).not.toContain('已逾期');
   });
 });
+
+/** The retired key, fully qualified, and its leaf inside each pack's `timeline.bucket`. */
+const RETIRED_KEY = 'timeline.bucket.overdue';
+const RETIRED_LEAF = 'overdue';
+
+type Pack = (typeof builtInLocales)[keyof typeof builtInLocales];
+const PACKS = Object.entries(builtInLocales) as Array<[string, Pack]>;
+
+describe('`timeline.bucket.overdue` is retired from the defaults row and every pack (objectui#11676)', () => {
+  it('reads every built-in pack and a defaults table that still has its bucket rows', () => {
+    // Non-vacuity: each assertion below reads these, so an unresolved import, a
+    // pack dropped from `builtInLocales` or an emptied table would be green
+    // without this.
+    expect(PACKS.map(([lang]) => lang).sort()).toEqual([...BUILT_IN_LANGUAGE_CODES].sort());
+    expect(TIMELINE_DEFAULT_TRANSLATIONS['timeline.bucket.earlier']).toBe('Earlier');
+    for (const [lang, pack] of PACKS) {
+      expect(Object.keys(pack.timeline.bucket), lang).toContain('earlier');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('the defaults row is gone, and the provider-less fallback answers the bare key', () => {
+    expect(Object.keys(TIMELINE_DEFAULT_TRANSLATIONS)).not.toContain(RETIRED_KEY);
+    expect(translateTimelineDefault(RETIRED_KEY)).toBe(RETIRED_KEY);
+  });
+
+  it('no pack carries it, while the `fields.relativeDate.overdue` family beside it stays', () => {
+    const carriers = PACKS.filter(([, pack]) => RETIRED_LEAF in pack.timeline.bucket).map(([lang]) => lang);
+    expect(
+      carriers,
+      'A pack carries `timeline.bucket.overdue` again. No timeline reads it: a past day is ' +
+        '"Earlier", and triage ruled that no timeline says "Overdue" (objectui#11676). A ' +
+        'due-date timeline is a new card that declares its signals in the spec first.',
+    ).toEqual([]);
+    // A different family that happens to share the leaf name: the date cell's
+    // "Overdue Nd" phrase. A sweep by leaf name rather than by key takes it out.
+    for (const [lang, pack] of PACKS) {
+      expect(typeof pack.fields.relativeDate.overdue, lang).toBe('string');
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/timeline-relative-defaults-retired-7874.test.ts b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/timeline-relative-defaults-retired-7874.test.ts
index 9255619597..439a6c8964 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/timeline-relative-defaults-retired-7874.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/__tests__/timeline-relative-defaults-retired-7874.test.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,11 @@
  *   - **Positive control on that search.** The same command shape, run for
  *     `timeline.bucket.overdue` / `timeline.scale.week` / `timeline.gantt.rowLabel`,
  *     returned their call sites in `ObjectTimeline.tsx` and `renderer.tsx`. A
- *     search that has not been shown to fire is not a measurement.
+ *     search that has not been shown to fire is not a measurement. (That was
+ *     read at `83fe6e741`. `timeline.bucket.overdue` has since lost its call
+ *     site and then its row and pack key, objectui#11676, so a re-run needs
+ *     another `ObjectTimeline.tsx` key, such as `timeline.bucket.today`, as
+ *     its control.)
  *   - **The job moved to a formatter, not to other copy.** Day-granularity
  *     relative phrases ("Today", "Tomorrow", "3 days ago") are produced by
  *     `formatRelativeDate` / `formatRelativeDays` in `@object-ui/core`
diff --git a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/useTimelineTranslation.ts b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/useTimelineTranslation.ts
index 2267442e74..9806e88f46 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-timeline/src/useTimelineTranslation.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-timeline/src/useTimelineTranslation.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,10 @@ import { createSafeTranslation } from '@object-ui/i18n';
  * embed) without an I18nProvider on the React tree.
  */
 export const TIMELINE_DEFAULT_TRANSLATIONS: Record<string, string> = {
-  // objectui#11676 — `overdue` has no call site here any more: a past day is
-  // bucketed `earlier`, because nothing the timeline reads declares a due date
-  // or a closed record (see `dateBucket` in `ObjectTimeline.tsx`). The row is
-  // kept with its pack key until the card's open question decides whether a
-  // declared signal brings "Overdue" back or the key retires.
-  'timeline.bucket.overdue': 'Overdue',
+  // objectui#11676 — the `overdue` bucket row is retired with its pack key: a
+  // past day is `earlier` (see `dateBucket` in `ObjectTimeline.tsx`), and no
+  // timeline heads a group "Overdue". `ObjectTimeline.pastBucket-11676.test.tsx`
+  // pins the row and the key absent from all ten packs.
   'timeline.bucket.earlier': 'Earlier',
   'timeline.bucket.today': 'Today',
   'timeline.bucket.tomorrow': 'Tomorrow',