The wet and dry etching behavior of La3Ga5.5Nb0.5O14 is reported. The ultimate application for this material is as crystal resonators whose operating frequency is inversely proportional to sample thickness. Reaction-limited wet etching in HCl or HF at greater than or equal to 25 degrees C, or HNO3 at greater than or equal to 60 degrees C produced removal rates up to 9500 Angstrom . min(-1) (HCl at 65 degrees C), with surface root-mean-square (RMS) roughnesses about a factor of two higher than on an unetched control sample. Dry etching in Cl-2-based plasmas produced removal rates up to 950 Angstrom . min(-1), with surfaces RMS values also about a factor of two higher than on control samples. Significant surface roughening occurred during dry etching when higher ion fluxes were used.