Turn's out, you can write a toki pona dictionary in toki pona with cycle-free definitions. I.e. every definition only using already defined words.
There is although an irreducible set of basic words / concepts. I used 53 of the 65 that Natural Semantik Metalanguage set up; nsm-approach.net/, nsm-approach.net/wp-content/up…
You can see my approach towards a tp dictionary in tp for the 137 nimi pu + nimi ku suli here:
ka-m-be.github.io/toki-pona-bo…
(comments, feedback and correction welcome)