distributor vs provider

distributor and provider both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
distributor	Yes	No	No	No
provider	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, provider is a hypernym of distributor; that is, provider is a word with a broader meaning than distributor:

distributor: someone who markets merchandise
provider: someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity

Other hypernyms of distributor include supplier.

distributor (noun)	provider (noun)
electrical device that distributes voltage to the spark plugs of a gasoline engine in the order of the firing sequence	someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity
a company that markets merchandise	someone who provides the means for subsistence
someone who markets merchandise
a person with authority to allot or deal out or apportion