1.
[syn: supplier, provider]
2. someone who provides the means for subsistence;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Provider \Pro*vid"er\, n.
One who provides, furnishes, or supplies; one who procures
what is wanted.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
provider
n 1: someone whose business is to supply a particular service or
commodity [syn: supplier, provider]
2: someone who provides the means for subsistence
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
20 Moby Thesaurus words for "provider":
caterer, chandler, commissariat, commissary, donor, furnisher,
manciple, merchant, patron, provisioner, purveyor, quartermaster,
retailer, steward, stock clerk, storekeeper, supplier, sutler,
victualer, vivandier
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
Internet Access Provider
IAP
provider
(IAP) A company or other origanisation
which provides access to the Internet to businesses and/or
consumers. An IAP purchases an Internet link from another
company that has a direct link to the Internet and resells
portions of that bandwidth to the general public.
For example, an IAP may purchase a T1 link (1.544Mb/s) and
resell that bandwidth in chunks consisting of ISDN (64Kb/s,
128Kb/s) and analog modems (14.4Kb/s, 28.8Kb/s). The IAP's
customer base is likely to include both businesses and
individuals. Individual customers usually connect to the IAP
via a modem and telephone line to a (preferably local) point
of presence.
An IAP may also be an Internet Service Provider.
(1996-06-25)