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Probably originally a compound of 頬(hō, “cheeks”) + 付き(tsuki, “resembling, appearing like”, the 連用形(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 付くtsuku “to stick → to become a certain state or quality”), from the way the husk vaguely resembles bulging red cheeks. The tsuki changes to zuki as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
The 鬼灯 kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun, literally meaning “demon's lantern”. The 酸漿 kanji spelling is from the Chinese term.
As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ホオズキ.
